La Esfinge (The Sphinx) – Big-Wall Climbing at 17,000ft

La Esfinge (The Sphinx) – Big-Wall Climbing at 17,000ft

I rest my head on a boulder and struggle to catch my breath. We are about half way up the relatively short approach to base camp and I am feeling weak and debilitated by the high attitude. How are we going to make it up a 2,500ft big wall if I can’t even hike 10 minutes without stopping to rest? After about a month climbing in the Cordillera Blanca, or the Peruvian Andes just outside of Huaraz, Peru, I have become accustomed to the roller coaster ride that is climbing at altitude

Read More

All the beta you’ll ever need for a climbing trip to Chamonix

All the beta you’ll ever need for a climbing trip to Chamonix

Because it is one of the birth places of modern day climbing and alpinism, there is a wealth of information about climbing in Chamonix. As a newcomer to the area, just figuring out which guidebooks you need can be daunting.  The following page details everything I have learned that may be helpful for the person. Feel free to drop in comments about other things that might be useful.  

Read More

On the mountain towards recovery

On the mountain towards recovery

It is only three months since the surgery, three months since I lost an entire lobe of my lungs, and boy can I feel it! Each breath is labored, my lungs desperately sucking in the air wishing for more.  I curse under my breath, annoyed at the new inability of my body. Anyone who has had to go through recovery knows the feeling of your body not quite being able to do what it used to. The frustration is infuriating. I had lung surgery to remove a rare type of cancer in my right lung, and I spent five days in the hospital with Larry. Larry was the name I gave the chest tube that was draining fluids from my chest into a box. I hate Larry.

Read More