Bold Solo on Ice

I found this old footage of Mark Twight soloing what I am pretty sure is Polar Circus. The soloing is pretty rad because many times it shows Twight coming loose on both hand and foot placements simultaneously while smashing brittle ice into big dinner plates. To say that he is a confident showman would be an understatement since he soloed Slipstream, which I consider to be the quintessential, hardman, ice (death potential) route.

The route description on Cold Thistle for Polar Circus is excellent. The route is not thaaaat scary because many of the steps reduce overall exposure significantly. My partner and I bailed at the point where John Lauchlan was likely swept to his death (great pics of this section). I cannot overstate the terror I faced crossing such a simple stupid snow slope that was completely loaded, sugary and fracturing with every step. My biggest fear was not crossing the slope. It was letting my partner down because I did not want to cross the slope. There I was practically sobbing because I was too afraid to commit to the unprotected section and too ashamed to admit that I was such a puss (no offense intended for the opposite sex) and a cry baby. I kept yelling down, "I don't know man, it is pretty sketch, I am afraid to go for it. It is too shitty. Maybe you should do it!!!" (like it was going to be any better for him) Sob, sob, and wipe away the welling tears. In the end, We trusted my judgement and we both went down, no questions asked and no shame for doing the (supposedly) right thing. But that is the nature of the avalanche, I guess. You never know if it could have, should have or would have let go with you on it. We will never know.