l have two distinct sides, half urban-loving native Chicagoan but now very much a New Yorker, and a nature-loving, adventurer. I grew up playing a lot of tennis and riding bikes. While living in California, I fell in love with bike racing and rode pretty seriously with a good team and have many happy memories riding in the Santa Cruz mountains of northern California. When I moved back East I had to figure out my winters. I ventured up to Mount Washington with a couple of buddies and got totally hooked on mountain climbing. It was a late Spring day, and we got caught in a nasty storm above tree line. Needless to say, it was an adventure. But I came down with a big smile on my face. So the climbing adventures began, and increasingly it has dovetailed beautifully with my work on historical climate change. I have
spent a lot of time training in the White Mountains, including rock and ice climbing. Huntington Ravine on Mt Washington (actually Mt Washington in general) is an amazing mountaineering training ground. Just above is a shot from Denali (unfinished business there) basecamp looking at the formidable Mount Foraker several elm down glacier. Yes, "Heartbreak Hill" returning to basecamp will break your heart..
The mountains are great barometers of climate change, and ice core geochemists turn out to be climbers. So it all works. I have been to almost all of the great ranges, with a couple of exceptions- I still await the Himalaya, which I have postponed for a variety of reasons. Mainly, I always believe in being worthy of the mountain you are on. I am an American, and a lover of real wilderness. I am an avid reader of mountaineering history. I find the Firnline podcast by Evan Philips based in Anchorage outstanding and something I always look forward to. Frequently, he focuses on Alaskan climbing, in my mind the most exciting and most challenging in the world. Give it a listen https://thefirnline.com/
Alaska and the North Cascades range in Washington state are very much my happy places. I've had many great climbs in both,, and some adventures too- not all of them planned. The beauty of Mount Bona in the Wrangell-St Elias range remains etched in my memory, Flying onto the "wrong side of the mountain with the best Alaskan bush pilot around, in not so good weather, climbing, with great climbers, an unplanned new route on the opposite side of the mountain from our original plans, was a real privilege, and possibly the most beautiful place I have ever seen (with Tanzania after a climb of Kilimanjaro a close second).
Possibly the most fun I've had is climbing the tallest peak in Iceland, Hvannadalshnúkur, with one of my buddies a few years ago.Its' only a little over 2000m, but the start was surprisingly steep at 4 in the morning. We got lost on the way down (it turned out the be a very long single day., I recommend two days with camping on the glacier) and we encountered sheep of very unusual size, with horns, in a gully. I think dinner that night never tasted better.
Meanwhile, once defrosted, there is New York City, where I haunt the uncountable number of great restaurants and pizza by the slice hangs. The Met Opera and the jazz at the Carlyle are favorites. There is the US Open tennis tourney which is so much fun. Occasionally I take myself to a new neighborhood and just wander around and discover new places, new galleries, a sandwich shop, or an interesting new restaurant.
spent a lot of time training in the White Mountains, including rock and ice climbing. Huntington Ravine on Mt Washington (actually Mt Washington in general) is an amazing mountaineering training ground. Just above is a shot from Denali (unfinished business there) basecamp looking at the formidable Mount Foraker several elm down glacier. Yes, "Heartbreak Hill" returning to basecamp will break your heart..
The mountains are great barometers of climate change, and ice core geochemists turn out to be climbers. So it all works. I have been to almost all of the great ranges, with a couple of exceptions- I still await the Himalaya, which I have postponed for a variety of reasons. Mainly, I always believe in being worthy of the mountain you are on. I am an American, and a lover of real wilderness. I am an avid reader of mountaineering history. I find the Firnline podcast by Evan Philips based in Anchorage outstanding and something I always look forward to. Frequently, he focuses on Alaskan climbing, in my mind the most exciting and most challenging in the world. Give it a listen https://thefirnline.com/
Alaska and the North Cascades range in Washington state are very much my happy places. I've had many great climbs in both,, and some adventures too- not all of them planned. The beauty of Mount Bona in the Wrangell-St Elias range remains etched in my memory, Flying onto the "wrong side of the mountain with the best Alaskan bush pilot around, in not so good weather, climbing, with great climbers, an unplanned new route on the opposite side of the mountain from our original plans, was a real privilege, and possibly the most beautiful place I have ever seen (with Tanzania after a climb of Kilimanjaro a close second).
Possibly the most fun I've had is climbing the tallest peak in Iceland, Hvannadalshnúkur, with one of my buddies a few years ago.Its' only a little over 2000m, but the start was surprisingly steep at 4 in the morning. We got lost on the way down (it turned out the be a very long single day., I recommend two days with camping on the glacier) and we encountered sheep of very unusual size, with horns, in a gully. I think dinner that night never tasted better.
Meanwhile, once defrosted, there is New York City, where I haunt the uncountable number of great restaurants and pizza by the slice hangs. The Met Opera and the jazz at the Carlyle are favorites. There is the US Open tennis tourney which is so much fun. Occasionally I take myself to a new neighborhood and just wander around and discover new places, new galleries, a sandwich shop, or an interesting new restaurant.
In the Serengeti
Mt Bona; is there a climbing route in there??
Hvannadalshnúkur from the highway
It was probably the altitude
