Now it was Lou’s turn. Keeping his body tight to the cliff, he found a crevice with his fingers, lodged his foot into a V-shaped formation in the slick rock, and lifted himself as Vaill had done.

One push at a time … one pull …

As he hauled himself up another few inches, a final spray spattered up from below, soaking the rocks and his clothing. His hands almost immediately became wet and raw, and he began to shiver.

One more push … one more pull …

Above him, he could just make out Vaill’s shoes. Ignoring the salt sting in his eyes, Lou made several pulls in succession and then risked a glance down. The ocean was gone. Above him was only heavy mist. It was like being in an airliner, taking off through dense clouds. Fortunately, as Vaill had predicted from the photos, the angle of the rock face was not as bad as it might have been. More and more as they spent time together, Lou was coming to admire the man and his abilities. He forced himself to maintain at least some eye contact with his boots, and pushed on, following his line.

Soon though, the tips of Lou’s fingers began to throb and burning needles shot up into his arms. From above, stones were kicked free and pelted against his face. Even well above the ocean, every hold was slick and potentially disastrous. There was no reliable footing here, and no trustworthy holds. But there was also no way to stop.

Keep climbing … just keep climbing.

Ten feet more were negotiated—maybe twenty. There was no way to tell where he was or how far he had traveled, nor was there any way to know if Vaill was looking back for him.

One hand … then the other … steady … steady … It had to end.… All bleeding eventually stops. The infallible ER maxim. All bleeding eventually stops.…

Another surprise gust of wind nearly loosened Lou’s handhold, but he clawed at the rock until his fingers sunk into a micro-thin crevice. He was about to make what seemed like it might be his final push when he saw the bottom of Vaill’s boot emerge from the fog just a few inches from him.

Why had he stopped climbing?

Vaill bent at the waist so Lou could see his face through the murk. He held his finger to his lips and then pointed upward. From somewhere above them, Lou heard a sudden burst of radio static. Next came a gravelly voice.

“Collins, here. I’m around the spot now.”

“You see the boat?” The voice on the other end of the radio came through quite clear.

“Forget seeing a boat, I can’t even see the ocean. The fog is really thick up here.”

“Well, climb down and go check it out. I’ve lost it on the screen here.”

“What am I, a fucking mountain goat? There’s no way I’m getting down there.”