Erosion [i roh zhun] The process by which the surface of the Earth is gradually worn away by the action of water, glaciers, wind, waves, etc. The gradual destruction or diminution of something. This sport we call climbing is built upon layers of paradox: Creation on the brink of destruction. Pleasure through pain. Finding life…
It’s a singular feeling when you’re 33 and talking to your mother and she says, “You know what I think you should try? Match.com.” Then there’s another feeling when you say to your mother, “Well, Mom, I had this weird feeling about meeting women and telling them I live in a van full of climbing…
I looked down at my Gri-Gri as a salty tear rolled off my cheek into a thousand feet of space and granite. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, black with sweat and dirt, and moved my ascender up the rope again. “I can’t believe I wanted to do this,” I thought…
Climbing helmets have come a long way in the last few years—mostly by shedding weight and becoming ultralight. I’ve realized that the really light helmets are not for me, they smash and get banged up too easily. Thus when I got my hands on the burly looking Grivel Stealth I hoped this was one that…
I could see him clearly from directly across the alleyway. A light was on and a white balding office worker was clearly burning the midnight oil at his desktop computer against the window. His face was clear as day no more than 30 feet away from mine. Should he, for any reason, even glance over…
On Sunday, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke stood in front of a small, windowless conference room in Salt Lake City next to one of the long standing Generals of the Sagebrush Rebellion, Senator Orrin Hatch. He was there to kick off his listening tour as required by an Executive Order signed by President Trump…
Like most desert rats, I first heard of Tom Randall during his and Pete Whittaker’s infamous off-width tour of the United States in 2011. Both hailing from the United Kingdom, with very little access to actual off-widths, they constructed their own in Randall’s basement, aka “the cellar,” and began a ruthless training regimen. The training…
If you are sick of new climbers coming in and ruining everything, do something about it. If you hate how distracted you are by technology, put the phone down and climb. If you love climbing outside, do something about it to save it. If you are dissatisfied in any way with the state of the…