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 […]
30 January 2014–There are no rest days in El Chalten. There are only waiting days. Sooner or later the weather improves and forecasts look good. The climbers come down from their boulders and sport climbs, shake themselves out of drunken stuppors and lace up boots and approach shoes. They head off to the mountains. Rumors […]
17 January 2014–In his guidebook Patagonia Vertical Rolando Garibotti refers to the Amy-Vidailhet couloir as “ultra classic” and “mega-classic”. It was not on the top of my list of routes to climb this year, but flexibility is part of making plans in Patagonia. I had climbed Guillaumet last year with Matt via the Brenner-Moschioni. It […]
“Why not Australia and Arapallies or just hang out in New Zealand with a fine lady?” Margo asked me as we stood at the base of another beautiful route in Red Rock’s Black Velvet Canyon. I had told her the previous day of my slightly absurd plan to try to work in New Zealand in […]