Last week I stood up on a stage by myself in a giant room and told strangers I liked when things were difficult. I was giving a speech at an event with Wright State University and Five Rivers Metro Parks in Dayton, Ohio and I told everyone that complexity was addictive and that I think it makes a life more … Read More
Winter Call (Summer Ski Apology)
I am not a hoarder. Or at least not of material things. But I might have to confess to being a recent hoarder of snow. And for that, I’m sorry. Today, December 11th, 2012, I took a hike in the White Mountains and watched yesterday’s thin layer of white turn to clear liquid in the span of an hour. My … Read More
Armenia Bound
In conjunction with Patagonia’s The Cleanest Line and Kate Rutherford Any climbing trip starts with a conversation. Kate and mine went something like this. Kate: “What’s your fall look like?” Majka: “October’s wide open.” Both of us: “Want to go somewhere good?” We considered Norway but were scared off by the rain; Germany was a strong contender but neither of us wanted to … Read More
The Original Risk Taker
It’s 11:00 in New Hampshire, which means it’s 10:00 in Minneapolis, which means my grandmother’s funeral has just begun. I’m not there. I’m here. I wrote her obituary and it ran in today’s Star and Tribune. It wasn’t the whole story. Actually, I’m wrong—it was. It gave a complete picture of my grandma. But I need my picture. The night … 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
Global Dialog Via the Culture of Coffee
Coffee can erase a famine. Agree? Disagree? Wonder just how literally I mean for that statement to be? How about this one: Coffee can create greater global understanding. If you’re reading this, you’re involved with coffee. If more than one billion cups of coffee are consumed every day in our world, then it is virtually impossible to avoid an association … Read More
I Can’t Go to Ethiopia This Year, Can You Instead?
This October, a powerful, engaged, and curious team is heading to Ethiopia to both change the world, and change how they interact in that world. Usually, I’d be joining them. But this year I need you to take my place. Imagine Ethiopia 2012 is the third iteration of a dream I helped create in 2009 with imagine1day. Our goal was simple: enable … 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
Post Post
It’s always hard to write about rock climbing when you are ripping powder in a new bowl, or to write about skiing when you are latticing hand jams up granite. This year, I put myself on spring break to do both activities, type about neither, and then come home to the poodle and the computer. I’ve spent countless season shifts … Read More