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Transcription: [00:28:03]
{SPEAKER name="Lisa Chickering "}
Never say never.

[00:28:05]
Dami said it'd be a wonderful experience going to the top — but he could see that we were still a bit dubious. So I guess in order to make us feel a little better, he said in all seriousness: it's not difficult, just dangerous.

[00:28:19]
[[LAUGHTER]]

[00:28:21]
Well, with such reassuring words — he gave us our picks and helped us on with our packs.

[00:28:30]
Then he explained our route on the map — pointing out the various rest stations or shelters along the way.

[00:28:38]
The time had come to leave the Franz-Josef-Haus. Dami made this climb 2 and 3 times a week and has been doing it for over twenty years. So our first desitnation — the glacier — which was a five-mile hike down (not up), was as he said: absolutely nothing. But with 10-pound packs on our backs and those enormous heavy boots weighting us down, we felt differently about it.

[00:29:01]
Being complete novices he said we must have a party of at least three men to ensure a safer trip. So we stopped at the first rest station en route to the glacier to pick up two expert climbers from Denmark — Erik and Sven.

[00:29:16]
After the introductions the men talked of their adventures on previous climbs — while we got our second wind.

[00:29:25]
Then Sven pointed up to the over 12,000-foot peak which was beginning to look more ominous than ever.

[00:29:32]
Finally, we were picking our way across the vast Paterze glacier, one of the oldest and largest in Europe. In the summer, it appears grey and unimpressive, still its innocent looking cracks and deep icy crevasses are a dangerous threat.

[00:29:49]
It didn't take us long to find the best use for the picks — though not too comfortable.

[00:29:55]
We were so weary by now and too concerned over its steadily getting darker — because of the storm clouds gathering down on the glacier.

[00:30:05]
Dami was far more concerned with explaining that there were more uses for the picks than just seats, but I'm afraid he wasn't much influence- [[cut off]]

Transcription Notes:
Friedel Dami / Damid / Damit ... I can't find a reference to him on the internet.