Peter Metcalf was fourteen years old when he found his people. He had joined a Boy Scout troop on Long Island, and one of the scoutmasters, recognizing a restless kid who scrambled over everything in sight, invited him along to...
On International Women’s Day, the world often speaks in the language of “inclusion”—the opening of doors, the seats offered at the table. But when I talk with Dr. Christine Theodorovics, the conversation shifts to a more ancient, more rigorous standard....
The Mountain and the Man Every generation has its icons. In alpine climbing, Mark Twight was one of ours. He was the provocateur. The punk. The voice that shattered the romance of mountaineering literature with sharp prose as cold as...
There comes a moment on every climb—and, if we are paying attention, in every life—when the idea of a summit begins to lose its gravitational pull. When the question quietly shifts from What am I trying to reach? to Who...
There is a moment on every climb when you stop looking up; a point in every race where you stop searching for the finish line. Not because the end is unimportant, and not because you are not tired, but you...
There is a kind of quiet courage that does not get much attention. It is not the kind expressed in triumphant summit photos. It is not loud. It is not flashy. It does not raise it’s arms at the top....
Is there any more compelling expression of the human experience than creating something that endures while simultaneously acknowledging our own impermanence? That’s poetry. And Randy Leavitt has been writing verse after verse his whole life. He’s not loud about it....
Bravery isn’t what I thought it was. I used to think bravery meant stepping into danger without hesitation and taking the lead when it’s steep and loose. Bravery was volunteering for the hard pitch. I used to think it meant...
There’s a moment in every big climb when you realize you can’t go back. The terrain is too steep. The weather’s too bad. The way down is more dangerous than the way up. The only option—the only hope—is to keep...
