Umbilicals “Not For Climbing Use”
While watching this video recently, I was struck both by the mechanism of the fall, which resembles a rag doll falling down a laundry heap, as well as by the failure of a piece of equipment which has recently…
Pro Style Backcountry Transitions
Backcountry transitions, meaning the transition from uphill to down or downhill to up, are a hidden source of massive time wasting. Don’t believe me? Maybe this sounds familiar: You and your friends arrive at a transition zone and slowly spread out to…
Merry Christmas from Mountain Lessons!
I hope that you are spending today however brings you the most joy, be that with family, in blissful solitude, or out skiing powder in the storm. Cheers!
Releasing the Grip
I was sick and tired of eating humble pie. I was hundreds of feet in the air on a tiny perch of stone, teeth chattering in the freezing shade, and I’d just given up. The sun was just around…
Jubilant Song
There are moments in climbing that come to fully embody and realize all of the work that led to that instant. These are the times outside of our thinking monkey minds, when the realm of what is possible is investigated…
North of the Border
I’m standing in the Northernmost stand of Joshua trees, or so the plaque says. This plaque I discovered while wandering up a deserted wash, just north of some numbered state route just north of the Arizona border. Arizona’s so close…
Wind River Fall
A summer has passed through the Wind River mountains once more, and the wind’s gone cold. Out of the field again, I’ve gained nothing more material than a good solid stink, but this trip in particular got the wheels turning…
The Challenge
(This post has been relocated to another date, though it was really published in December of 2011. There are good reasons for this that will not be explained.) Other people always tell me that they envy my lifestyle. At least,…
Where Have All The Warriors Gone?
The consequences are part of the appeal, and character comes of consequence. There’s a line in Fight Club that says, “We are a generation of men raised by women.” That’s not quite the problem. One of the big perks of…
Split Decision
Split Decision – Self Portrait, V2. This was taken during a solo bouldering trip to the Big Bend Boulders outside of Moab, UT this past Tuesday.