There’s a character to the alpine world that is perhaps indescribable, a tenor to the air and sky and wind and light that permeates everything in such a way that it defies words, defies any attempt at pinning it down in mere words. It is a feeling, an immutable presence enveloping everyone and everything, pressing […]

I guess part of me has always been an explorer. No, not that kind of capital "E" Explorer - I haven’t discovered new lands, walked off the map, completed bold first ascents or any of that headline-grabbing stuff. But, I’ve been fortunate enough in my travels and adventures to wander off the beaten path somewhat, […]

I’m not sure what time it is, or really where I am. Somewhere near the coast of Brazil, I know that; sometime during my birthday - I know that, too. I've flown past the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Pamirs, Caucasus, and Atlas Mountains, and will soon cross the Andes. I'm headed to Chile to meet my […]

The pink hues of twilight glaze the cloud tops from my vantage point about 39,000 feet above rural Poland. It’s a sublime view, but a bit melancholy, as my sunset is my wife’s 18,264th sunrise as she sits half a world away. Yesterday, on the beach in Santa Barbara, California, we four (Wende, Lila, Ryrie, […]