(The Fellowship is discussing how best to get back down from the snowy mountain, Caradhras.)
"...their retreat was now difficult. It might well prove impossible. Only a few paces from the ashes of their fire the snow lay many feet deep, higher than the heads of the hobbits; in places it had been scooped and piled by the wind into great drifts against the cliff.
'If Gandalf would go before us with a bright flame, he might melt a path for you,' said Legolas. The storm had troubled him little, and he alone of the Company remained still light of heart.
'If Elves could fly over mountains, they might fetch the Sun to save us,' answered Gandalf. 'But I must have something to go on. I cannot burn snow.'"
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The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 3: The Ring Goes South (p. 382)
Hehe. Gandalf is pretty funny when he's anxious. :)
