//------------------------------// // 13) Nulpar Tour : Days 26-31, Dragontooth Pass // Story: Climbing the Mountain 2 // by Talon and Thorn //------------------------------// Dear Fragrant           After my stop off at Mount Bodach I headed east. I still can’t believe I met Ten Wings! I was so lucky, what are the odds I just bumped into one of my heroes in my own province? And to get to actually go climbing with him!   Anyway I headed off towards Dragontooth Pass to get to the eastern reaches of Nulpar. I guess it got its name from how jagged a lot of the mountains are over there, as far as I know there are no dragons in Nulpar, well that I know for certain anyway. To be honest there’s not that much in the east, a few scattered subsistence farms, some mining camps and one or two nomadic groups, but if I want to talk to everybody I’ll have to cover them.   I stopped off at a small village on this side of the pass to stock up on supplies, it was a really small place, I don’t think it even had a name. The ponies there was a little reserved to start off with but they warmed up eventually. They told me that the pass had been blocked for about two years now since there was a big rockslide. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about it, news can travel slowly here but I didn’t think it was that slow. The ponies in the east must be using the southern passes to get out instead. The locals have apparently been spending some time trying to clear it, but it’s been slow going. It’s probably something else I’ll need to see if I can help with, there’s so much to do. I don’t know how you rule most of the sky when it seems hard to just look after a little patch of land and a few thousand ponies.   I spent quite a bit of time going over my maps with my hosts looking for an alternative route, there were three options;   1) I could ignore the area entirely. I really don’t want to have to do that, all my people deserve a voice. 2) I could double back and try to approach from the south. It’s probably the easiest route but it’ll mean two weeks delay at least. It’s time I don’t have if I want to get back to Sadlzburg by the end of the summer. 3) I can try to overcome the blocked pass. The locals have told me it can’t be done but I’m fairly confident in my skills, not to toot my own horn but I’ve done things other ponies considered impossible before, even Ten Wings himself seemed impressed when we were climbing together.  So it looks like option 3, at least I should get a look at the challenge. It’ll only take a day or so to get there, and if I’m lucky I could be over the blockage in a few hours then off to the mysterious east!   Wish me luck!   Max     Dear Fragrant   It took me a bit longer to get to the blocked part of the pass than I thought, it’s starting to get dark already. I can see why the locals have taken so long trying to clear it, it’s huge! I’ve no idea how so much rock can fall but it’s completely covered the pass, it’s at least a hundred feet high as well. It seems to mostly be quite loose rock, with only a few larger boulders sticking out. It’s certainly going to be a challenge, but I think I’m up to it. I’ll give it a good look over tomorrow and plan a route. Normally I’d just do it by instinct but Ten Wings spends so much time planning his ascents, so I should probably do the same.   If things go to plan my next letter should be from the other side, I might even make it to another village.   Write to you again soon.   Max     Dear Fragrant       Things haven’t gone to plan. This wall of rocks is a nightmare! It’s not the height, I’ve gone much higher before, it’s how loose the whole thing is. In some places I sink in almost up to my knee. The slightest misstep sets off a miniature rock slide, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve started to get somewhere only to slide back again. There’s not even many places you can secure a line.   It’s been two days so far! Two days! For the first I didn’t know what I was doing, I came up with a plan but after a few slips the whole structure looked totally different. I had to start again and again until the light started to go and I had to give up.   I thought I’d gotten the hang of it today and I did make a bit more progress, I found a section of larger rocks that were a bit more stable and followed it but it turned up to be a dead end. Four hours or clambering from rock to rock and I end up surrounded by a sea of pebbles again! It took almost as long to come back down again. It’s so frustrating.   Still I’ve spent the rest of the day planning tomorrow's ascent, this time I’m going to make it, I can see a path of boulders leading all the way to the top, I just need to stick to that and I should be up and over by noon.   Wish me luck!   Max     Dear Fragrant           I hate this place!!!! I never want to see another bucking pebble as long as I live!!!   Sorry about that, I needed to vent a little. It’s been three days now, three! I climbed mount Bodach in less time than that and I’m still at the bottom of the wall. I had it all planned, I had a route, it went all the way to the top, but I swear the whole thing just shifted mid climb. Suddenly the path wasn’t there anymore and I was stuck half way up. I must have spent hours moving a few lengths this way or that trying to find just one stable hoofhold but there was nothing! It’s like this whole valley is taunting me!   I’m going to try again tomorrow, and this time, no planning! No thinking! I’m always better when I act on instinct, so I’m just going to go, just let my hooves decide which way I’m going to go, they haven't let me down before.   I’m going to climb this wall even if it kills me!   Max     Max looked down from the boulder he was currently clinging to. The valley floor was maybe seventy feet below him. He initially made good time today; he’d gotten about as far as he had the previous day by the time that the sun was directly overhead, but then, as before, the path had started to peter out. He’d found fewer stable hoofholds and had to pass more and more areas by rope and even then it was a struggle to find secure holds to affix pitons. Still, by late afternoon the top of the rubble pile had been in sight. But there his path had stopped. All around seemed to be little more than loose gravel held precariously in place, and there was no obvious path to take.   Snarling, Max stamped a hoof in frustration. He’d have to go back now and take another route. More delay. He stamped again; worryingly, the ground beneath him shifted slightly at the impact.   Trying to smother his anger, Max sat down for a moment and tried to survey his situation in more detail. There had to be some other way over the rockslide. Maybe he could go around the whole thing? But that area was unexplored; who knew how long it might take to get through? He examined his immediate area. A large boulder stuck out from the pile maybe seven or eight lengths away; beyond it, there seemed to be more stable ground leading to the top and over. Could he make it? A quick check showed no secure site for a rope to be attached between here and there. If he was going to get there, he’d have to jump. It was foolhardy, even dangerous, but it was the only route he could take if he didn’t want to have to give up for the day. He sighed. Being a pegasus would have made this whole thing much, much easier.   Nodding to himself, he made his decision. He was going to give it a go. He backed up as far as he could to give himself a run up, and checked that his last rope was securely attached and that it had enough slack left to make the distance. If he missed, he would no doubt be bounced off the wall a few times; not pleasant, but the rope should prevent him from falling to his doom. Taking several deep breaths, Max tried to focus on his target. He dug in his hooves, feeling his muscles tense, his heart pump and the adrenaline burn through his veins. It was things like this he lived for – him versus the mountain. After another moment of mental preparation, he slammed back with his hind legs and drove himself forwards, picking up as much speed as he could. As quickly as he could, he shot forwards along the ledge, the distance being eaten up by his thundering hooves. At the last possible moment, he slammed down, his hind legs again driving himself into the air.   The world seemed to slow as his body flew across the gap. This must be what flying was like! Defying gravity's summons, the air flowing around his suddenly hyperaware body, tugging back at him. Was this how Fragrant felt all the time? She had offered to go flying with him; what would it be like to share these feelings with her? Then time returned to normal as his front hooves crashed into the edge of his target. His hind legs flailed in the air and his chest slammed into the edge of the outcrop, driving the breath from his body. He desperately flailed around for a grip on the boulder as he felt himself slipping back. One forehoof locked into a small groove in the rock, and he heaved with all his might, halting his slow motion fall. His hind legs, still wheeling in space, finally caught on something and he forced his body back onto solid ground.   Panting and dazed, he looked around. He’d made it! The top of the rubble pile was only a short distance above him; he’d be over in less than an hour, and the trip down the other side should be much quicker. He grinned widely at his success.   The smile quickly dropped from his face as he heard a rumble from behind. He turned, eyes wide, to see his previous perch slowly detaching itself from the wall and tumbling down into the valley below. He felt a tug on the rope attached to his middle as it drew tight. The other end was being pulled down by the falling rubble! His hooves blurred as he untied it before it could yank him from his hooves and down the cliff.   Shocked, he watched half of the slope roll away as the rocks rearranged itself. That had been close! Fragrant would have never forgiven him if he’d gotten himself killed trying to climb this wall. He slumped down and watched as the rock slide came to a halt. Still, at least he was almost over the top now; if he was lucky he’d be in the next village within a day. He stood and turned, already planning the last leg of his journey when he felt a rumble under his hooves.   Suddenly, with a roar of stressed rock, the lump of cliff he was standing on detached itself from the surrounding substance and began to slide, almost gracefully, through the pile of rocks below it. Smaller rocks and boulders were thrown up by its passing and rained down upon Max. Sorry, Fragrant, he thought as he hurled himself aside to avoid a lump of rock larger than he was. He needed to find some sort of shelter. He scanned the area around him. Through the rain of small rocks he saw two large shards of rock forming a rough arch; it seemed his only option and he staggered towards it. Upon crawling under the shelter, he curled up as best he could hoping the protection would be enough. Then something slammed into the side of his head and everything went black.       Gasping for breath, Max regained consciousness. Something was pressing down on his entire body! He couldn’t breathe! His eyes snapped open, but there was nothing to see. He was trapped in the dark! He panicked, trying to flail around with restrained limbs at whatever was holding him down. He managed to budge one forelimb, and suddenly there was light as a rock just over his head was dislodged and knocked aside. He seemed to be buried under a pile of loose rocks. He tried to rein in his emotions and take stock of his situation. Craning his neck, he looked around. The rocky outcroppings seemed to have performed their job of protecting him from larger boulders, but left him cocooned under a thick layer of smaller debris. His head ached and he felt bruised over much of his body, but he didn’t seem seriously injured. He shuddered with relief. He didn’t want to have been trapped here to die slowly, like his father. The thought renewed his panic and he clawed his way out of the pile of rubble covering him.   Standing slowly, he looked around. The boulder he had been standing on had slid all the way down the slope and now stood almost at the bottom. He was almost exactly where he had started this morning. He hung his head. All that work, almost dying, and he hadn’t achieved anything. He glanced up. The fresh rockslide had lowered the pile blocking the path. At least next time he wouldn’t have as far to climb. Hopefully with a fresh day...   No, he told himself, he was letting his pride stop him from thinking clearly. He’d lost much of his equipment, almost died; he was in no position to try and climb again. He should never have come this far, either deciding against it back in the village or stopping once he saw the scale of the wall, but his stubbornness wouldn’t let him. Even if he had made it over the rocks, he’d have to do it again in reverse coming back.   Sighing, he moved a safe distance back down the valley and started to unpack his tent again. Luckily, his bags seemed to be mostly undamaged. He checked over his maps to see what options remained. He could try to go around, but it was untested terrain over mountains; he had no idea how long it would take. He was going to have to accept that he wouldn’t be able to visit this part of his province. The thought burned a bit, but there didn’t seem to be a way around it.   Tracing a hoof over the maps, he decided on a new route. He’d have to backtrack to that last village again, hopefully I’ll be able to pick up some supplies there, then head west towards Hoofington. There wasn’t much else up here. Wait a minute. He glanced back and forth between two maps. The one he’d gotten from Sadlzburg didn’t show anything, but the one he’d purchased on the road to the Eyrie did show a settlement: Norton. He’d never heard of it, but then it wasn’t like he’d ever visited all of Nulpar before. He hadn’t originally intended to travel that far north, but the change of plans did give him some free time. Maybe the map was wrong, but even if it was it shouldn’t affect him too much. He had to pass through that area anyway. Feeling happier now that he had a plan, Max dug out a can of fruit from his bags and set about opening it to make supper.