Honey Without the Moon

It’s 45-degrees. The wind is at 42 mph– a certifiable gale force. The rain is going up as much as down. I’m on my honeymoon. And it’s exactly the way it should be. A tropical honeymoon was never in the cards for Peter and me. Mind you, we are in the islands– the Lofoten Islands of Norway.  Five days into … Read More

Cheering Like You Mean It

This year I partnered with the Himalayan Cataract Project and imagine1day and produced Ethiopia’s first ever running trail race. Here’s what happened: –179 runners competed in Ethiopia’s first ever trail race. –871 successful sight-restoring surgeries were performed. –1 new library was funded to serve 500 primary school students and a 1000-person rural community in the heart of Northern Ethiopia. Running is universal. That’s part … Read More

Drafting Dad

One day, I will beat my dad at something. I’m 35. He is 70. It hasn’t happened yet. I thought I had his number when I had him out to New Hampshire to go bike riding and canoeing. Our day one bike agenda was 42 miles and 1,500’ feet of elevation gain, and I had a home court advantage. Plus, … Read More

8 Lessons Learned During the Non-Climbing Days on a Climbing Trip in Europe

When you’ve waited 35 years to go to Italy, the wine, pasta, meat and cheese will be just as good as you imagined. When you’ve waited 35 yeas to go to Italy, you will likely have overestimated the amount of wine, pasta, meat and cheese that is reasonable to consume. My Garmin Nuvi has a search setting for “Winery.” It’s … Read More

Alaskan Lessons of Honest Skiing

Fourteen years is thirteen too many to go between visits to Alaska. I sensed that every year that passed during my recent Alaska pause, but I knew it when I saw the landscape of mountains, pure mountains, and more mountains on the clear, still day I made it back this April. How did you know you wanted to be a climber? When … Read More

West to East

I’m practicing owning up to my origins. Colorado used to just roll off my tongue. New Hampshire? It’s clunky, it’s two words, and it takes explaining. Contrary to what many presume from my quick speech and intense personality, I am not an easterner and never have been. Until now. In January Peter and I packed up the van and headed … Read More

Rolling With The Cool Kids

An Additive Adventure Entry In Conjunction WithOutsideTV.com and Osprey Packs It’s taken three months, but it’s happened. I was spotted.  Rollerblading.  It was just as awkward as it sounds. I was skating on 30th, or trying to skate amidst the gravel byproduct from recent construction. I rolled past a woman walking on the sidewalk and was just about to turn up my … Read More

Robbery Friendships, An Additive Adventure Entry

In Conjunction With OutsideTV.com and Osprey Packs This is Haile. In 2006, I put Haile, and thirteen of his closest friends, in jail. In Ethiopian jail, to be precise. I’d like to say it wasn’t my fault, but then again, I was the one climbing in Ethiopia. The story went something like this: Caroline George and I were three hundred feet up a … Read More

Mountainfilm and Get in Shape Girl: Rehab in Pink

In my mind, it was in the middle of the Miss USA pageant when I first saw the ad. A cadre of young girls in leotards burst through a door and waved ribbons and moved their arms around with weighted wristbands. It was horrifying, even without the music. “Get in shape girl, you know the feeling.” “Get in shape girl, … Read More

Waypoint Namibia: Big Walls, Desert Mirages, and Perseverance in the Darmaland and Beyond. *

On June 1st, Peter Doucette, Kate Rutherford and I completed Southern Crossing: a 1300-foot 5.11+, grade 5 rock climbing first ascent on the Brandberg, Namibia’s highest peak. But that’s only part of the story. There’s also a 2,000+ year-old painted giraffe, 108-degree temperatures, eight days at 15km/hour over washboard roads, scorpions, laser sharp granite cracks, crumbling granite faces, and 1.7 … Read More