I felt sure that developing some degree of athleticism would make me feel powerful. But the girls in our church youth group were taught to crochet potholders while the boys were enrolled as scouts and sent on fifty-mile backpacking trips.
Ever since I read “The Old Man and the Sea” as a kid I’ve wondered what it would be like to catch a massive fish. Don Rodrigo the Magnificent may not have been the underwater giant Hemingway describes. But he surely was enormous.
Like the rest of the climbers who abscond to the remote yet burgeoning village of El Chaltén, Argentina each austral summer, we had put our trust in the multi-directional arrows and EKG-like squiggles of NOAA’s meteogram forecast.
That April he reached another goal: become the world’s oldest heli skier. The next year he was even more ambitious. He wanted to ski as many days as he was old—96. But he one-upped himself. Junior ended the 2021/2022 season with 101 days under his belt.
When a series of unfortunate (or misguided) events found me in Utah nearing the end of my proverbial rope, in an act of desperation (or salvation?), I caved; I gave up on my monolithic faith in climbing. I needed another out. I bought a bike.
Our song poured over each granite block and pooled into every undulation between Bighorn Peak and Lone Peak. The two summits soar above much of the Wasatch skyline, linked by a snaggle-toothed ridge nicknamed “Nope Ridge” by locals for its inhospitality.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.” — T.S. Elliot
Sometimes I experience so much dread the night before a predicted powder day that I start looking for excuses for why I shouldn’t go. When I bail, I spend the rest of the day scrolling through photos posted by others on social media and believing I made a horrible mistake.
As epic as our storied adventures are, it’s the simple, focused effort toward connection that drives us—whether that’s connection with self, with each other, or with nature. And as Chris McKleroy (founder, Nocs Provisions) says, “It’s closer than you think.”
My sense of self-worth used to be tied to my job performance and I found I’d get frustrated and anxious if things weren’t going according to plan (even if it was beyond my control). I learned a lot about what really matters to me out there and I think I’m a more confident, balanced person because of that.
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