Ascension

Start Your Climb

Your mission begins with Lara on top of a huge mountain. She has her climbing gear but no weapons or extra tools. Her companion, Jonah, is similarly equipped, and the two of them are trying to reach the summit.

Walk forward and follow Jonah on the thin, snowy pass. Try not to get distracted by the wind, poor footholds, and precipitous drops that surround you. Lara is sure footed, and she won’t fall off of the pass unless you do something really dramatic and foolish. Just walk straight and there won’t be any problems.

Before too long, the snow under your feet collapses. Lara falls, and you have to press the Interact button to hack into the ice and catch yourself before plummeting over the edge. This saves Lara’s life.

After catching yourself, use the controller’s left stick to shimmy right along the ledge and then use the jump button to leap to the next ledge. Go to the far right side of the area and jump up two rocky ledges until you reach somewhat solid ground again.

Pull yourself to the upper ledge and look to the right. There is a wall of ice that you can climb. Approach it and Interact with the ice to attach your axe to it. Climb up the tenuous path and use your left stick to maneuver to the right and then back toward the left as you avoid the areas that aren’t climbable.

Jump twice to the left once you reach the top. You have to Interact with the ice as you jump to make sure that Lara latches onto the ice walls with her axe.

Leap back to Jonah and then follow him through a small cave. The storm is getting worse when you reach the other side, but things are still manageable for now. Follow the path toward the summit, and watch a short scene as you near the top.

Jump to the right when you start the next part of your climb. Latch on with your axes and climb up as high as you can. Continue up and right as far as you can go. There is another scene when you get to the end of that section. It ends as Lara gets up to some solid footing but has to start a dangerous sprint out of the area.

Run forward without hesitation. Jump when you get to the wooden walkway in front of Lara and catch onto the damaged boards ahead using the Interact button. Keep running, past a wrecked old plane, and outpace the growing avalanche as best you can.

There is a zip line ahead; it was probably left by the people who crashed that plane here sometime in the past. Ride that down toward another area and get ready to catch yourself after breaking through a wall of ice. Do this quickly before Lara falls to her death, and then jump to the ledge on your right before a collapsing wave of snow overtakes you.

Run to the right, jump, catch yourself, and move on. The trick is to avoid jumping prematurely as the ground falls out underneath you during the next stretch.

After you reach the ledge, we turn back two weeks to find out how Lara got into this predicament.