We could see base camp below us, and my breathing was becoming more and more excited. I felt as though an entire lifetime had passed since I had last been here. The tents shimmered in the sun as we hurried through the jumbled ice at the foot of the icefall. At 12:05 P.M. we unclipped from the last rope for the final time. I looked back at the tumbling, broken glacier and shook my head in disbelief. Quietly, and to myself, I thanked the mountain for letting us through. Waves of worry and tension flooded from me and I couldn't stop crying. Again. All I could think of was Dad. I wished he could be here right now. Beside me. But he was. Just like he had been all the way.