You are going to read a magazine article about ice climbing in the USA.
Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-H the one which fits each gap (16-21). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).
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A Then we came out of our tents, full of excitement and anticipation.
B It was softer underneath and I was rewarded with an icy spurt of water from the Stream that was all too clearly still running below.
C Suitably full and encouraged by the promise of continuing cold weather, we headed north.
D I lay floating in and out of sleep, listening to the sound of the trees cracking in the extreme cold.
E This made it tiring work on the legs.
F However, it is also possible to take a slower route up.
G Walking through the snowy forest in the middle of the night was a very magical experience with a great atmosphere of adventure.
H In contrast to most ice climbs, it's a true waterfall for most of the year and during the summer it's a popular tourist attraction.
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ICE CLIMBING ON THE ARETHUSA FALLS
The USA has a lot of good ice climbing. Arethusa Falls is by no means the longest or hardest route in the area, but the trip I made with some friends to climb this beautiful waterfall stands out in my mind as one of the finest excursions I had during the two years I lived in the USA.
(0)...The answer is ->H
In the depths of winter it becomes a quiet and lonely place, even though it's not difficult to reach.
We left home one Friday evening in February at about 9 p.m. having delayed our departure to accommodate birthday celebrations at an Italian restaurant.(16)… It was a very dark night and the roads shone white from salt, enclosed by kilometre after kilometre of ploughed snow barricades.
We arrived at the car park near the path to the waterfall shortly after midnight and as soon as we got out of the car, the cold air hit us. We set out in the direction of the waterfall carrying our camping and climbing equipment, and two torches between five of us - not to be recommended! The path was almost covered by snow and progress was slow as we tripped on hidden branches and roots. It sounds miserable but it wasn't.(17)…
Eventually we found ourselves in a clearing blocked at one end by a great, shadowy mass We quickly erected the tents and put our warm bodies into our not-so-warm sleeping bags.(18)…
Daylight shocked me awake, but no dreaming could have prepared me for the view. Boots were pulled from inside sleeping bags and we put extra clothes on. (19)… A glistening wall of snow and ice rose above us, not seven metres from where we stood. The ice looked green with strange yellow streaks in contrast to the clear blue sky. The silence and solitude added to the beauty of the scene.
We decided to set off two at a time. My partner, Dave, set off with a grace and style that I'll never be able to match. My start to the climb was rather different as my first blows with the hammer removed great lumps from the wall of ice. (20)… My progress was also much slower as I paused to place good solid ice screws.
The climbing wasn't desperate, but certainly hard enough to leave me with a sense of achievement. The angle wasn't too steep either but at the same time there weren't any places with enough space to rest.
(21)… Some metres further up, the ice became buried in deep powder snow.
After a bit of a struggle I finally reached the safety of the trees.
The others followed and we basked in the sunshine at the top for about 20 minutes before heading back down to the car. |
