My favorite mountains glow at sunset from our camp near the East Alsek River. They look so peaceful and inviting this particular evening.

But Fairweather is a misnomer for these mountains. Storms swirl out of the Gulf of Alaska one after another. Foul weather is the norm.

Three years earlier, I climbed Mount Fairweather with partner, Mike Dziobak. We reached the summit on April 30, 1999 at 4:15 PM on the 23rd day of our expedition. It had been an exceptionally wet April, and we'd already spent 7 days in the tent waiting out storms. Another one was coming, and it caught us, descending, still high on the mountain. We had to dig a snow cave for shelter for the night. Luckily it cleared the next evening, so we could get down to our tent.