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(CNN) - A climber thought he had finished the most difficult part of his trip on Mount Rainier, but he was wrong.
In August, Graham Parrington and his team were climbing the largest mountain in the state of Washington, in the United States. They had just reached the top and were going back to the camp when it happened. Parrington collapsed 30 feet (over 900 meters) through a crack in the ice.
"We were going back, we had passed the most dangerous parts and we could see our tents," Parrington told CNN. "And suddenly I disappeared into a crack."
He was falling and started screaming.
"It was breaking layers of snow, which slowed my fall a little," he said. "I reached the bottom and was hanging on a giant sheet of ice."
Parrington could only listen to his team if they leaned over the edge of the crack.
At one point, Parrington told KOMO, a CNN affiliate, a picture was taken after he realized he was not going to die.
The self-taught mountaineer had climbed Rainier before, but the team he met this time did not have much experience. That meant they needed help to rescue him.
"It took 15-20 minutes for the team to locate a second team," Parrington said.
The aid came in the form of a group of mountaineering women who had also just reached the top and headed to the base camp. Parrington put on a waterproof jacket and gloves while waiting for the teams to send help.
"It's like being in an ice shower down there," he said. "The glacier is melting on you."
Mount Rainier, in the state of Washington, in the United States.
Parrington said the light was dim, making it difficult to see what was around him. At his feet, a sink seemed so dark that you couldn't even see the bottom.
Once the anchor was fixed, Parrington slowly advanced towards the top. It took 15 to 20 minutes of constant but difficult climbing.
“When I reached the top, I had never been so happy to be blinded by sunlight,” said Parrington.
Parrington and the other climbers continued their journey back through the glacier. During that next part of the trip down the glacier, Parrington said a teammate stepped on another crack, but fortunately he was able to avoid falling.
"I don't think any of us are in a hurry to return to a glacier," he said.
Parrington said that this experience has motivated him and some of his fellow climbers to receive more training before climbing again. He said he and his team were prepared, but they were also very lucky.
"We all want to minimize dependence on luck the next time we go up," he said.
Mountaineering
