“Man that line is awesome” I say to no one in particular. Of the king lines we have seen this one has by far drawn me in the most. Guarded…
Tag: Climbing
31 December 2013 — I need to call Orbitz. “¿Puedo utilisar el telefono?” I query. “Si. Ahhh, number quatro” The woman at the desk of the locutorio says gesturing behind…
The following is an essay that I wrote shortly after returning from my first NOLS course as an instructor. I am posting it here, today in remembrance of the events…
Doubt, fear’s twin brother, confidently raised it’s beastly head today. It came as I stared upward at the imposing chimneys. It was there again as I followed my partner’s lead…
The steep, hot, unshaded hillside was untrailed, but at least it was covered in pimpenellas, a dry seed with burr like tendencies that got all over clothing, skin and hair.…
“I can’t get all this stuff into my pack.” Whether the first day, the second, or the day after a ten day re-ration, the comment is inevitable. Over the duration…
Roshambo: a simple, yet effective, ancient, Chinese game of chance. Like many other climbing days of mine, this day started with it. As we ritualistically ran through the rules, Matt…
As Leonard Coyne quipped “You either got the spirit or you don’t. If you got the fu***g spirit you rock. And if you don’t… you’re a sport climber. “ I…
Bugaboo: an object of fear or alarm; a bogey. Upon seeing the gendarme high on the south ridge of the then unnamed Bugaboo Spire, Conrad Kain, during the first ascent…
As usual, I wished for rain. It is always easier on the ego than feigning a case of the Sphinx Sphincter or Gannett Gut, things that are failings of the…
How can something so beautiful be so, so… unforgiving, or maybe unwelcoming? The mountains of New Zealand are cruel mistresses. They tempt me with their beauty, accessibility and challenge. I…
We all have things that we value, however, we don’t always act as though we value those things. I value my freedom, my family, honesty, a healthy planet and my…
It was not with eager anticipation that I shouldered my gear laden backpack in the now paved, super-sized parking lot of Donnelly Canyon and started the walk towards the familiar…