The Comeback | Climbing Magazine

“The Comeback.” Climbing Magazine. February 2014. Download PDF | View Online “Vipers look a lot like sticks. That’s a thought you never want to cross your mind when climbing. But 20 feet off the ground, with a broken puzzle of loose rock below me and a deadly Armenian viper slithering out of a perfect finger jam above me, it was the … Read More

Roots & Ritual | Selamta Magazine

“Roots & Ritual: Coffee and Culture in Ethiopia.” Selamta Magazine. November, 2013. View Online | Download PDF “Entrenched in the forested flanks of Ethiopia’s Amaro Mountains, I sat down for a cup of coffee with a seventh-generation leader of the Messa tribe, Marsha Aday. We convened outside his regal earthen home, with a dizzying vista of overlapping wild coffee trees toppling … Read More

Testing the Waters | Backpacker Magazine

“Testing the Waters.” Backpacker Magazine. August 2013. Download PDF | View Online My second thoughts about the wisdom of embarking on a four-day, father-daughter paddling trip start at the Magalloway River put-in outside of Errol, New Hampshire, before our canoe even gets wet. I set my water bottle in the stern and throw Dad’s in the bow. He walks over … Read More

Vertical Ethiopia | Selamta Magazine

“Vertical Ethiopia: Exploring New Angles of an Ancient Country.” Selmata Magazine. January 2013.  Download PDF | View Online “Four women rock climbing in Ethiopia — climbing anywhere, really — are hard to miss. Each of us was adorned with 25 pounds of metal and nylon, and we took turns contorting our hands and feet into orange sandstone as we tried to get … Read More

The Forbidden Island | Active Times

“The Forbidden Island.” Active Times 5-Part Series. December 2012. View Online “In the two-plus hours since we’d entered the smoky air-conditioning of Havana’s Casa Musica to see a performance by Pupy y los Que Son Son, one of Cuba’s hottest fusion-salsa acts, photographer Holly Wilmeth and I smoked cigarettes, drank mojitos, and waited. Our seatmate, Clara, assured us that this was on par … Read More

Cuba on the Rocks | Afar Magazine

“Cuba on the Rocks.”  Afar Magazine. February 2012. Download PDF “Cuba was in my memory long before I ever knew it in reality. Graham Greene’s words and Celia Cruz’s music were partly responsible for this, but the elements of Cuba that loomed largest in my subconscious were its towering rock faces. I’ve spent the past 20 years climbing and guiding—from Namibia to Corsica, and … Read More

Global Dialogue | SCAA

“Creating a Global Dialogue Via the Culture of Coffee.” The Specialty Coffee Chronicle. 2012. Download PDF “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 … Read More

Taking Flight | Skiing Magazine

“Taking Flight.” Skiing Magazine. October 2011. Download PDF “On the third morning of any ski-touring trip, certain things are guaranteed. Your legs will be sore, you will already have had too much alcohol, and you will question the wisdom of filling every day with as much vertical as possible. Today is no different. My alarm goes off early and my left hip flexor reminds me I’ve skinned 9,000 feet in the … Read More

Waypoint Namibia | Petzl

“Waypoint Namibia.” Petzl Catalog Feature 2010. Download PDF  “What makes a climb impassable? I’m 215-meters up a first ascent of a granite crack climb in the heart of Namibia, and all I have to hold onto is a bush. Lots of bushes. Trees, too. In order to get where I’m going – the summit – I need what’s behind the … Read More