While climbing Mt Eolus (Colorado) recently, my partner and I encountered a phantom climber. While we were briefly resting and taking in the awesome view, I heard the sound of another climber's windbreaker flapping in the wind, and regrettably awaited his arrival on our solitary perch. When he did not arrive, I peered over the edge and was puzzled to find nobody in sight. Strange...

On the descent I again heard the climber. This time he was coming right at me, though at the last minute he seemed to veer to my left and pass by me, all the while his windbreaker flapping in the breeze.

Could it have been one of the seven climbers that have died on this massif in recent years? At that moment I wished that I knew their names.

Perhaps it was even Eolus himself...