Chapter 11, Alone Summary

Rudi calmly climbs the upper glacier. He is alone on the enormous slant of ice that makes him an insignificant dark dot on the surface. He makes good time, following the steps cut by Winter and Saxo the day before. He tentatively crosses the snow bridge and then threads the serac maze easily - again retracing the earlier steps. He climbs up the powdery snow and veers left of the avalanche site. He keeps going and realizes with a start that he is on solid rock - the true southeast ridge of the Citadel. He rests and notices that he can see both Kurtal and Broli from his high vantage point. He sees the Fortress but nothing above that.

The rock wall becomes steeper as Rudi cleverly gains fifty feet and then another fifty feet. He reaches a smooth face and...