14
Jon felt like Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay atop Mount Everest—without the supplemental oxygen.
Jeremy had ground out the details in broken sentences and scattered phrases. “Fifty feet to the highest peak in the world, they stopped crawling and stood. Past speech, Tenzing waved for Hillary to be the first ever to stand atop the mountain. He figured it was the white climber’s privilege. In reply, Hillary wrapped an arm around Tenzing’s shoulders, then, staggering forward, they took the top together.”
His and Jeremy’s arrival at the top of the Snowmass ski area was far less auspicious, but perhaps equally welcome. Jon had thought he was in pretty good shape. Apparently not.
“Sixty-four percent,” Jeremy grunted from where he knelt on all fours with his head hanging down.
