It was mid-winter and strong freezing winds blew over the Alps, nevertheless we were determined to reach the 3,036 meter point on Monte Rosa. After a long school semester I joined a friend, Cristian, in a hiking trip on this Swiss colossus. We've been hiking for three days now and each step brought us closer to the Alpine Hut. Snow covered the surroundings displaying an entire panorama of nature's most beautiful yet harsh environments. Looking upwards you could see the mountains dominant summit gazing upon the rest of the Alps with a terrifying presence. We were nearly a third up the route, near a ridge when we set a terrible storm came out of nowhere. A gale suddenly hit our group sending tents flying in all directions, the guides screamed at us to secure our lifelines in the and I battered my nail in the hard ice beneath me. All of a sudden an ice slide occurred and strips of ice started moving towards the ridge, the ground started to move and to my horror I realized that I was sliding as well. Cristian yelled at me to jump of the ice but I hammered the nail too hard in the ice and was therefore immobilized. As the ice fell over the edge it shattered freeing me from the lifeline but it was too late, I couldn't grab the side of the ridge and I started fell over in the edge. The last thing I heard was my name and then silence. Time seemed to slow down as pictures flashed through my head. Ironically, instead of thinking of the fall I just realized how beautiful the mountain actually was. Its towering stand was unmatched by any of the other peaks and it seemed as a slope to heaven, and eagle was slowly flying about 300 meters above me scouting the area. I could feel tiny pieces of ice touching my face as I plummeted to what I thought would be my doom. Time now seemed to barely flow as I was waiting to feel my back touch the ground in order to end this terrifying experience. Finally I felt my back touch something cold and I closed my eyes, I have reached the bottom, the wait was over.