Hey, welcome back! This is the #harnessthemountains series. This is Matt with Project Forty. I’m continuing my talk about the herd—H-E-R-D, of 18 people crossing the Bon Bon Glacier out in British Columbia. You have heard me talk about the holes in the glacier with streams of water falling down into them with raging rivers below. You have heard about me following bear tracks and crying out to the Lord “Help!” and Him answering that call, being so faithful. But have you heard this: 18 people jumping over a crevasse? Why? Well, we kind of came to a crossroads.
We eventually got off the bear tracks and came to a spot where there were two crevasses. One was large and I was kind of keeping an eye on it to my left, and one came in front of me where they met, making an “X.” Our only option to get around it was go all the way back to the maze that we had come through, but the sun was going down (so probably not the best option). Or, go back to the deceptive rocks up against the rock wall that we saw earlier that day–that wasn’t a good option either, so we decided to go for it!
We jumped across a crevasse that was probably, in full 10 feet across, but there was a snow bridge that extended out into the crevasse just a little bit.
So, here’s what you do: you’re on a rope team which means that you and your teammates are tied together with harnesses into a single 200 foot long rope. If one man falls, and goes down into one of these crevasses, it’s the job of the others to take the ice axe in their hand, and fall to their knees, jabbing the ice axe down into the snow and ice. You, with your body, kick like crazy into the snow and ice, which prevents your teammates from falling, plumbing to their death! (Or, in this case a really big hole that probably would’ve seriously injured them, and taken a helicopter evac to get them out.
So, what do you do when you prepare to jump across the crevasse? You make sure that your teammates are solid. Now, we got to the edge of this snowfield and I placed a teen out in front of me, because it’s super awesome for them to be in the lead and it’s safer for me to be number two on the team. Then, if number one goes down, you want number two to be bombproof with their self-arresting technique so they can stop them from falling. So, we scope out this crevasse and get out there a little ways. My entire team went into self-arrest position so they were secure the snow, while I went out and tested the snow bridge. If your ice axe goes all the way down in the snow to the head of the axe, then the snow is too thin–you shouldn’t walk on it, it’s precarious. We got to that point where my ice axe went down and I knocked the edge of the lip off. Remaining was a gap about 5 to 6 feet across that we had to jump, spanning a hole that was over 50 feet deep. There was a ledge on the other side that we could land on and over the course the next 45 minutes all 18 of us jumped across this crevasse! The only way we can make that kind of leap of faith was knowing that we had our team solid, in the snow, in self-arrest position.
In day-to-day life, who do we know who are solid in their character, solid in their faith, and they’ll stand by you no matter what happens. If you can think of someone in your life that that holds the that kind of standard and character, take a moment today and shoot them a quick text or an email letting them know how much you appreciate their presence in your life. If you feel you don’t have a solid support, I encourage you to spend a little time and really connect with your friends and your family. Figure out who you respect, who you admire; and then go after a relationship with that person. I hope that this encourages you.
Before I go, I have to share a funny thing about this story. The next day we were sharing a high of the day and a low of the day. This one girl she no more than 14 years old who weighed maybe 110 pounds, gave her highlight for the day. She said it was the glacier and jumping over that “little crack” in the snow. Are you serious? Little crack?! This was a massive crevasse that you could’ve fallen into. You would’ve needed a heli-vac to get you out of there. It shows you a little bit about perspective and it made me laugh. That’s all folks…enjoy your day!
-Matt