Recent posts
We're all afraid, and that's the point
The opposite of rebellion is imitation
Apr 14, 2026
Projecting 13a in Rumney
Clipping a draw on Tin Man, Rumney NH Time to revisit one of my all-time favorites: Everything works out in the end; and if it hasn’t worked out, it’s not the end . We can always rationalize our way into believing we are in the part of the story that we want to be. We can rationalize that we’re in a story to begin with, and not, say, wandering through the wilderness, no paths, beginnings, middle, or end. But yesterday did seem like a definitive end, in the way stories go. Such as we have in climbing: its routes, projects, and seasons. You either “send” 1 or you don’t. And if the season ends be
Nov 9, 2025
A breakup focused me like never before
The climber Tommy Caldwell spent seven years working to find a single new route up El Capitan’s “Dawn Wall.” It wasn’t clear if he would ever succeed. Even on the final 19-day push to send the route (climb each section without rests or falls), it wasn’t clear if he and his partner would be able to do it. Brett Lowell, the cameraman who had been filming Caldwell’s journey for years, said he could never tell if he was wasting his time. Maybe Tommy would never send, and all those weeks and months hanging on a rope, pointing the camera, capturing footage, would all be for nought. Maybe Tommy was s
Oct 23, 2025