"I'm just going to take it extra slow," Karen says as she approaches the rock face and ties off the rope around her waist. It's more damp than she really wants it to be, but the snow has slacked off enough and the sun has peaked through the clouds, so it's mostly dry about halfway up. It's just a matter of being super careful on the parts that aren't.

She's glad to find that the rock seems relatively solid — Getting a good hold with her hands and feet is easy enough; nothing starts crumbling away under her efforts, at least. That makes it a little harder to get the hook in, but it holds well when she's able to find a big enough crevice.