Michelle Parker was just six miles into a multi-day slog when she started questioning the mission. She was hauling a 71-pound backpack—loaded with food for a week, ski and climbing gear, and glacial camping equipment—and they still had a long way to go. The goal? Climb and ski the northeast face of 8,280-foot Mount Fury, a steep, remote peak in the Picket Range, known as the most rugged part of Washington’s North Cascades. To get there, she and her ski partner Sam Cohen had to hike 25 miles into the base of the peak, then climb some 5,000 vertical feet to the summit.