I’m going back. Back to the Himalayas. Back to Ama Dablam. Back to try again. Ama Dablam’s a mountain in Nepal’s northeastern Himalayan range. It’s astoundingly steep and known for its soaring summit at 22,349 feet. Translated, Ama Dablam means “mother’s necklace” — defined by its symmetrical lower ridges that look like the arms of […]
Megan Kalalau was awarded a Reach Scholarship to attend the No Barriers Summit this past June after we received her application and listened to her sing on Youtube. Her voice is simply beautiful. At the risk of sounding a little cheesy, I believe every person can tap into a hidden reserve of strength, beauty, and […]
In preparation for Ama Dablam, my good friend, Timmy O’Neill, came out to Colorado so we could work on our fitness and train together. Timmy has an impressive climbing resume including having climbed three Grade VI routes in 24-hours: the Northwest Face of Half Dome, South Face of Mt. Watkins, and the Nose on El […]
This summer I got the opportunity to head to Alberta and British Columbia with friends and try to tick off a climbing bucket list item in the famed Bugaboos, a popular climbing destination. The Bugaboos got its namesake from the miners that arrived from Europe in the late 1800s and found mostly nothing worthy of […]
I got to know Quinn Brett through our mutual friend, Timmy O’Neill. The other week, we did a beautiful bike ride along Cabin Creek Road, south of Estes Park. From Cabin Creek, I hear you can see the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park like Longs Peak. And the wild flowers were popping. I loved […]
For this blog, I asked my good friend and climbing partner, Eric Alexander, to write his perspective on our recent climb of Mt. Baker. I’ve been putting my life in Eric’s hands for more than 20 years now, so in the following article, I think you’ll see why. – Erik Weihenmayer “That which does not […]
Labor Day brought Ellie and me to a climb of Boulder’s First Flatiron, or as they say in Boulder, the First Flatty. It was good to spend the day with Michael Brown, who lead the pitches so Ellie and I could climb together. Michael directed many of my films and has joined me on some […]
In 2017 I spoke at Colorado Mountain College’s Commencement where I met Melissa Simpson, a young woman from Leadville, Colorado, graduating with a 4.0. Born with cerebral palsy, she has spent her life in a wheelchair, had multiple back surgeries that included a spinal fusion, and endured being regularly bullied while growing up. In the […]
I recently met up with old friends, Jeff Hauser and Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser. I have such strong connections with both of these folks going back over 20 years. They live near Glenwood Springs and look up at this massive mountain, Mt. Sopris. I’ve been told Sopris appears way taller than its 12,966 feet; like […]
Our No Barriers Summit was held in June in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, Squaw Valley, California, near Lake Tahoe: tall snow-capped peaks, huge Ponderosa Pines, giant pine cones as big as pineapples, fast-moving mountain creeks, all spilling down granite slopes into clear cold Lake Tahoe. Everyone should put it on their […]
