The power of wind

I happened upon a new Web site, and a few hours later, I finally pulled myself away. SummitPost.org is a well-organized self-adaptive mountaineering site that features hundreds of postings and trip reports from around the world. Check out this one, posted by Scott Patterson about a climb on North Star Mountain (with this photo): "Just below the east summit, a gust of wind picked me up. It didn't push me down; it picked me up-like a toothpick. The gust carried me 25-30 feet up in the air and above the ground, and for a horizontal distance of 50-60 feet before savagely slamming me to the ground. I am not exaggerating at all (I mean I was in the air looking way down at the ground!!) and I can't believe the wind could do this! I weigh 220 lbs. Once I smashed into the ground I saw my left glove (which had idiot strings, but still ripped from my hand) and my left ski pole fly in the air until they disappeared. I had landed on my left side, with my left hand, forearm, and upper leg taking the brunt of the force." Read more on the site. - Deb