Three years after my last summit, I was once again back in the mountains. If it isn’t hard enough enduring the mental and physical challenges of a high-altitude, technical mountain, I figured I’d throw in the twist of attempting to summit and then ski off the top of Mt. Baker in northern Washington. 

Many challenges occupied our lives in 2020, and it appears they (and now even more) will accompany us through 2021. Looking back at the...