Article June 8, 1992 Issue

Finding your way through the mist

A deeper understanding of God brings clear-minded direction in life.

Mark William James

A Number of years ago I instructed a course in winter mountaineering. The course included a section on how to use a compass in a whiteout condition. A whiteout is a weather phenomenon caused by heavy cloud cover over snow. The amount of light coming through the clouds is the same as that reflected by the snow, which makes it very difficult to discern where the snow stops and the clouds begin. Visibility is reduced to only a few feet, depth perception and distance are distorted, and it is easy to lose your sense of direction.

After taking a compass bearing on the summit of the mountain, I explained that even if a whiteout developed, we would be able to find our way to the top as long as we kept to the compass bearing.

The next morning we found ourselves in a whiteout condition. Using our compass, we climbed directly to the summit of the mountain. Another group of climbers, who left at the same time but did not use a compass, arrived much later, exhausted and discouraged. They had been hiking at a fast pace for many hours. Apparently they had become disoriented and wandered several miles out of their way. My students learned a lesson from this experience, and I learned an even greater lesson later as I thought back on it.

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