To go or not to go, that is the question. Is it even a question though? Is it not preordained? The fact that I sit here and write these sentences tells me it is not a question. Maybe the real question is where to go, and more importantly, with whom. The planning begins again, though […]
I feel like an armchair quarterback. Here at a table, with a warm cup of tea and a writing device in front of me, I wax poetic (or try to) about the nature of mountains, the meaning of summits and all the details that surrounds those things. I think of ideas for “next time” and […]
We woke in the dark then watched the sun come up. We watched the sun go down and come up again. All without sleeping. Then we watched it go down once more, still without sleeping. In between we climbed up, rapped down and walked out. *** It was to be a short spell of good […]
The reality is, once again, I am not good enough. Not strong enough, not smart enough, not tough enough, and even potentially, not dumb enough. Some things had changed in the two years since I last attempted to climb Fitz Roy via Pilar Goretta and it’s north side. I had more experience, more knowledge and […]
“Mind if I rack up and take the first lead” Matt asks. “Nope, go for it, I’ve probably climbed the most of anyone on this expedition. It’s all yours.” We are at the saddle between the South Avellano Tower and The Tooth, a pyramidal granite spire, and are emptying our large, cumbersome packs that are […]
“Where do you want me Dave?” “Wherever you want. It’s your lead.” Dave’s tone is mildly exasperated and slightly frustrated. He has just finished his block of leads and the last one in particular was a run out slab that wound its way upward for about one hundred and twenty feet of vertical gain for […]
The group process yielded a desire to climb something. After talking options for a half hour or forty-five minutes we reached the conclusion that moving over the saddle to the base of our objective was not the best choice for our one day weather “window.” With our gear already at the saddle, making use of […]