Years ago, climber and author Greg Child wrote: Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb. Greg - a prolific climber with an uber-impressive resume - is no stranger to standing on summits, and some of the hardest ones. But, like any true climber, […]

I'm somewhere over Minnesota, cruising at 33,000 feet, making my way (the long way perhaps with stops in Frankfurt and Addis Ababa) to Tanzania. This will be my 12th (I think, maybe 13th) climb of Kilimanjaro, and I couldn't be more excited. Sure, I always love my times on Kili: there's stunning scenery, fun terrain, […]

Great days in the mountains don't always mean a summit. Sometimes - perhaps more often than not - they're comprised of exploration, solitude, adventure. Remembering a couple such days on Mount Everest.

Everyone told me it was a fool’s errand. “There’s no ice in Evergreen,” they’d say with certainty. “Nothing. Nada. I’ve looked, and it isn’t here.” For a while, I simply took their word for it, acquiescing to the apparent reality that I’d have to drive to Silverplume or down into Clear Creek Canyon to climb […]