Category: Climbing
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Kilian Jornet At Hardrock
This weekend, Kilian Jornet destroyed the course record at the legendary HardRock 100. He ran the famously “wild and tough” 100 mile race in a previously unheard of 22:41:33. In doing so, he cemented his reputation, at least in my mind, as the best mountain runner ever.* If you don’t follow the sport of ultrarunning,…
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Friday Inspiration – New York Kid on the Road
I’ll admit it, I’ve got some hometown pride associated with the success of Ashima Shiraishi. She’s a New York kid, she climbs regularly at my gym, and she rules. In fact, just this week I saw Ashima crushing it at Brooklyn Boulders. She’s gotten so much taller in the last year, and her climbing continues…
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Friday Inspiration – Skinny Dude Climbing v16
Speaking of skinny dudes, check out this amazing video of Adam Ondra* climbing two different V16 routes: For those keeping track at home, Ondra is 5′ 11″, weighs a whooping 128 pounds and is all of twenty years old. As is obvious from this video, he is among the best climbers in the world. What…
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Some Quick Thoughts On Never Being A Very Good Climber
I’ve resigned myself to never being very good at rock climbing. I’m too old, too fat, and have too little time to devote to the sport to ever climb at a high level. But that’s ok, I still love it. With my schedule, I’m lucky if I can get to the climbing gym once a…
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Friday Inspiration – The Lessons of Play
Last weekend I went climbing with my young niece. She took to it immediately. With little fear, a lot determination, and weighing next to nothing, she did wonderfully. There were times at the beginning when she got nervous – when five feet off the ground she asked me to lower her down. But as the…
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Friday Inspiration: Two Great Climbers
Last weekend was my first time at the climbing gym in well over a month. I was a little rusty, but happy to discover that I hadn’t lost all my fitness. I’ll be back there on Sunday, slowly working my way back up to the level I was at this fall. I’m involved in a…
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Alex Honnold, Free Soloing, and the Viewer’s Guilt
There is a profile of the fascinating climbing pro Alex Honnold up on the Esquire website. I read it with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’m impressed by Honnold’s climbing prowess, and fascinated by his recent record breaking assents, but on the other hand I worry that by following Honnold’s career, I am risking…
Milo and the Calf 