A salt-pitted sidewalk and a frozen mixture of untold substances, seen as a craggy mountain wreathed in wind-whipped snow.

A slab of concrete with paint, rust, dirt, and untold other leavings mixed and frozen on top of it, all edged with road salt. For as numb as my fingers became while I composed this shot, I imagined jutting rocks marked by skin that froze on touch, piled bones spying from the darkness, and wind fueled by the rage of those forever deemed unworthy. Shivering, fumbling with my camera, I watched as generations of the highest caliber of climbers reached for their creators, fell, and found their devotion or disobedience cursed one in the same.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18