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By 7:30 am we were ready to roll. The climbing would start within one hour of the hut door. We took a new route which started with a 30 to 35 degree climb on the ice of the glacier. We put on the crampons, readied our ice picks and began our ascent. We were short roped together and our pace was slow but steady. The most amazing thing occurred. Your mind tells you that there is no way you should be able to do this as you look ahead to where you are going and back from where you came. This is just too steep to walk on! But the security that the crampons and ice axe provides completely overrides what your senses are telling you. This paradox is what truly brings you to a peak of excitement and fear. And man we had just started!! We then left the glacier, crossed a rock fall with the crampons on. Now where I felt that paradox of security just moments ago, I now entered an excruciating 'pain zone'. The combination of the boots and crampons would test my brace and duct tape job to the limit. This would last for just 5 minutes or so and then we were on the snow. But the degree of ascent would be similar to that of the glacier. Now one of the important aspects in climbing is maintaining a rhythm while stepping. However when protecting ones knees and wincing with pain every fourth step from the tendinitis, rhythm is completely out of the question.