4 Absurdly Great Mountaineering Films
This past winter I had the pleasure of viewing some stupendously great climbing films. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen one yourself, I urge you to dive in again. Lighter weight cameras, drones, and other advances have upped the ante on cinematography. You feel like you’re right alongside the climbers as they make […]
Ode to Fred Beckey, Mountaineering Legend – gone at age 94
I met the incomparable Fred Beckey when I was twenty-nine years old. The legend of this extraordinary mountaineer was well established by that time (he was 64 and still going strong). Those outside mountaineering circles may have never heard of him, but the list of his first ascents will never be surpassed. If you stood […]
Mount Saint Helens and Me
I am fascinated by threads. Especially ones that appear to be random, but reveal themselves as part of one magnificent whole. In early spring 1980, a few months shy of my 23rd birthday, Mount Saint Helens became increasingly active. A series of earthquakes below her center indicated that she was about to put on a […]