Fall in love with being alive
Well it happened. Snow in the high peaks. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, the Adirondack High Peaks are covered in snow most of the year. I’d just sworn to myself I’d never hike a high peak in the snow. But there I was, hiking Mount Colden in the snow, and it was beautiful. It […]
A new thought was given to me this week. The thought was that falling is an essential part of rock climbing. In general I spend most of my climbing time trying not to fall or even thinking about falling. This new thought means I have to accept the consequences of my actions. My actions being […]
This weekend I was learning about top rope anchors. But I was thinking about how much has changed in a year. A year ago climbing outdoors seemed like an impossible goal. A year ago I took an outdoor anchor building class and it all seemed too overwhelming, too much, too scary. I felt that anchors […]
The thing you should know about caving is… How to read a map. But existentially the thing you should know about caving is the Wonder of it. I had to play it cool because I was an instructor. But the wonder, guys. The awe. There are worlds down there, under our feet, carved by time […]
I started training with Cornell Outdoor Education in order to teach tree climbing. And guys, this stuff is great. I don’t know if you know this, but there are trees everywhere. You don’t have to drive hours to find them, or sign a waiver to climb them. You don’t need a gym to simulate them. […]
We’re heading quickly for September and I was talking to my Mom about how I wouldn’t be free again until about Thanksgiving and she asked why I do this to myself. This was actually almost the original title of this blog. And a valid question. That I don’t have an answer to. So as September […]
I have a confession to make. I kind of don’t really try. At anything. Trying always means there is the possibility of failure, and if you really try and fail, well it doesn’t feel great. It’s also stupid not to try. I think sometimes about a wonderful and inspiring woman I knew as a teenager […]
Do you ever just look into the fridge even though you’re not hungry? I do this all the time. I tell myself I’m looking inside for answers that I know aren’t there. I know what I’m hungry for and it’s not food. Probably it’s water, I should drink more water. But no, what I’m hungry […]
I bruise very easily. Sometimes at the end of the week I take stock of them. Some I remember the moments thinking “that’s going to bruise”. Some I don’t have a clue how they got there. While examining the most recent collection of bruises (from two marathon days of gym climbing) I was thinking that […]
This weekend I was supposed to go to New Hampshire and climb in a place called Rumney. The weather didn’t agree with this plan but the result was still wonderful. I’m hesitant about sharing where exactly I went climbing instead, because the place was totally empty and that seems like it should be impossible. Possible […]
