Fall in love with being alive
Sometimes things hurt. Like when your friend takes a fall while climbing and lands on your head. Or like when your world is run by a madman, but these are things we do with community, with friends. We are not alone when we fall, we aren’t alone when we hurt. So in the days ahead […]
Climbing days are running out. Winter is coming. Eventually I’ll have to learn to live with myself in the quiet. But not yet. Today is perfect and hard and I’ll go home sore and tired and happy. The days will get shorter and shorter. But then they’ll get longer, so that’s ok. The seasons change […]
When my boss at my day job asked what I was doing this weekend, I said: “throwing some college kids out of windows” By that I mean rappelling off the football stadium. It does involve climbing out a window though, so I wasn’t lying. What’s most rewarding about teaching outdoor education is the exhilaration in […]
First it was caving, then it was intro to outdoor rock climbing, then it was camping, then it was climbing, then it was hiking, and now we’re at week 6. Let’s go. I have no adventures planned for this weekend and it’s making my skin crawl. That’s not to say I have nothing to do, […]
What once seemed like an impossible task is now more than halfway through. Twenty-five peaks down. I could probably finish the 46 High Peaks in another summer, if I really tried. In the High Peaks I always have a moment where I think I can’t do it, but don’t really have any choice. That’s what […]
We drove up to the Adirondacks on a Saturday and we climbed at Poke O’ Moonshine. After the second pitch, I thought I had nothing left. But there were four more to go. Turns out, I had a little. When we reached the top and it was time to rappel down, we had to find […]
They say we spend 90% of our lives inside. If that was converted to hours in a day it would mean we spend 21 hours and 36 minutes inside. Every single day. And only 2 hours and 24 minutes outside. And that, honestly… sounds about right. On this note though, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency […]
There is a sign in the cabin used as a gathering place for cavers since the 1970s that says: This is about doing something difficult and not stopping when it becomes not just difficult but cold and difficult or cold and wet and difficult or cold and wet and difficult and dark. And here we […]
This is my third time teaching Intro to Outdoor Rock Climbing. Every time comes with its unique joys and challenges. The joys are usually to do with the climbing and the challenges are usually the students. Kidding, just kidding. What I love about teaching outdoor education is the single minded focus on tasks. There is […]
I’m about to work 7 days a week for 20 days straight. What lays ahead are work days that are 15-16 hours long. I will have a regular day job, an evening job, a weekend-long job, and be responsible for the lives of 8 other people on a camping/climbing trip. So this weekend I went […]
