The massive ramparts calmly lay

Before us on that fateful day,

While we previewed our chosen way–

A daring first ascent!

That braggart height that soared alone

Beguiled us with its sweet unknown–

Invaded our most inner zone

With it’s most sacred scent

On deeming our adventure sound,

We soon lit out for higher ground.

Our confidences knew no bound

Yes, Glory rode the reins

Experience assumed the lead

And we reached base-camp in good speed–

Fulfilling our initial need

Although the day seemed strange

Then evening donned her bleak disguise

And the cold, white carpet crystallized

The sparkling twilight hypnotized

And reveled in its sin

At length, the baneful breezes blew

A warning to the world we knew

Like shadows in the milky stew

We set up camp, and then…

The winds, winds, winds…

Like a banshee on the moor

Licked the night with cruel caresses

Ever haunting…evermore

Yes, the winds, winds, winds…

With it’s howling, constant cries

Held advice for all who listened–

Death’s demonic head shall rise

The morning’s vivid alpenglow,

{A robe of rose and golden snow}

Enveloped us from top to toe

In ambient, liquid light

The flaming yellow stone reflexed

The dripping rays of sun direct

Into our eyes.  With due respect

We drank that awesome sight           

Renewed by God’s consoling hand,

We hastened camp and climbed again–

A disciplined and eager band

Determined to survive

But light to night too quickly turned

How for its soothing warmth we yearned

How deeply our desires burned

To leave this land alive

Again we crawled in crisp cocoons

Like mummies in elastic tombs–

Like embryos in hostile wombs

To dodge the arctic air

Embroidered on the virgin field,

Our confidence began to yield

It’s welcome and familiar shield

As if it didn’t care

And the winds, winds, winds…

Like a banshee on the moor

Licked the night with cruel caresses

Ever haunting…evermore

The fear our once intrepid eyes

So cleverly ’till now disguised

Sprang forth in desperate surprise

And on our spirits grated

To quench a vain, primeval thirst,

We staked our lives to conquer first

This ragged range though hearts should burst

Before our souls were sated

And the winds, winds, winds…

With it’s howling, constant cries

Held advice for all who listened–

Death’s demonic head would rise

Awakening in brittle shrouds–

Consumed by harsh, foreboding clouds,

We cursed the brewing skies aloud

Yet blindly ventured on

We inched along a pressure ridge

Where Nature forged a fragile bridge–

Where Death lay waiting at the edge

Our souls to pounce upon

All evidence and every trace

The blizzard battled to erase

No, never would it rest its case–

O demon course satanic

To perish with such brutal quickness

Filled us with a fatal sickness–

Chilled our blood to gooey thickness

Our circumstance grew frantic

Like dominoes in turn we fell

Into Death’s empty, wicked well

All victims of this frozen hell

Whose vile, damned stench oppressed us

On numbing knees we shrieked, ‘Alas!’

The light of Life was fading fast

Our lives before our eyes did pass

And God’s own hand caressed us

And the winds, winds, winds…

Like a banshee on the moor

Licked the night with cruel caresses

Ever haunting…evermore

Yes, the winds, winds, winds…

With it’s howling, constant cries

Held advice for all who listened–

Death’s demonic head did rise