Distinctly Montana Magazine

20 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 2 Earlier that afternoon, Hank had set out with a local named Dick Willey to hike and search for mountain goats in a remote part of Ajax Peak, a mountain on the border of Montana and Idaho near Wisdom that resembles, in Hank Jr.'s own words, "a green-and-brown jag- ged tooth capped with white enamel... a smooth white blanket of deceptively simple terrain." . As Hank wrote in his autobiogra- phy Living Proof, coauthored by Michael Bane, "There's probably been snow on top of Ajax since the day after creation, and there'll be snow there long after any of us will be around to appreciate it." In- deed, there was snow that year, even that late in summer. Hank, Dick, and Dick's son Walter gingerly stepped through the white expanse, stepping in each other's footprints and trying to be careful where they set their weight. Hank said that, in the moments before his near-fatal mis- step, he was reflecting that "it's amaz- ing how clear your mind can get when there's nothing but that flat expanse to concentrate on." Step by step they made their way across the expanse. Though cautious, they felt some growing confidence. Soon Dick and Walt were already across the snow to the safety of the other side. Hank put his boot in Dick's print and tested it for his weight. At 205 pounds, he was the heaviest of the three hikers so his foot sunk a little deeper than Dick's had, but it seemed stable. He took his weight off from his left and shifted it, tentatively, to his right foot. Something under his right foot moved. Williams looked around him, panic beginning to set in before he understood why. Adrenaline shot through his veins, and he quickly shifted his weight back to the perceived solidity of his left leg's footing, but the snow underneath was already shifting. In an instant that felt like an eternity he realized that the snow was falling, and he was falling with it. "And I am two beings," he wrote of that horrible moment. "One is an animal, insane with primeval fear, clawing at the air, gulping great draughts of air, looking frantically for es- cape. The other is very, very rational, a warmth that fights the insane fear. Be calm, because there's no escape. You're going to die here. You're already dead."

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