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He dropped through the trapdoor into the hell hole He already wore a pair of French paraboots with thick, elastic soles He hurriedly re and slipped into it There had been no roo cap

Next cales and an altimeter, which he strapped to one wrist

He clipped the harness snaps and checked the straps for snugness He wore a piggyback rig where the reserve sat on his shoulder blades and the main chute fit into the small of his back He relied on a ram air canopy, a square air foil that is more flown than jumped

He glanced at the dial of his watch One minute, twenty seconds He opened the escape door and a rush of air swept through the hell hole He studied the sweep second hand on the watch and began counting down

When he reached zero he launched his body through the narrow opening feet first, facing in the direction of flight The velocity of the airstrea the breath fro roar for a brief instant he felt the heat fro

Face down in a stable arched and spread position, knees slightly flexed, hands spread in front, Lehts burned on the ground

He assumed the worst; his crew had failed to reach the correct rendezvous point Without a defined target zone he could not gauge his wind drift or direction He ht land kiloed ice with serious injury and never be found in time

In ten seconds he had already dropped nearly 360 meters The needle on the lu into the red He could not wait any longer He pulled the pilot chute from a pouch and threw it into the wind It anchored to the sky and strung out the main canopy

He heard the chute open with a satisfying thuht position He took his penlight and aimed the narrow beam over his head The canopy blossomed above him

Suddenly a shts blinked on about one Mile away to his right Then a flare went up and hung for several seconds, just long enough for hiht steering toggle and began gliding toward the lights

Another flare went up The wind held steady with no fluctuation as he neared the ground He could clearly see his cre They had laid out another line of lights leading to the previously lit circle He jockeyed the steering toggles and ree bank into the wind

Leround His crew had chosen the terrain well The balls of his feet made contact with soft tundra, and hein the center of the circle

Without a word, he unsnapped the harness and walked outside the glare of the lights He looked up at the sky

The aircraft with its unsuspecting crew and passengers flew straight toward the glacier that gradually rose, closing the gap between ice and metal

He stood there watching as the faint sound of the jet engines died and the blinking navigation lights ht