Alpine Mentors 2016-2018

I'm happy to share that I was invited to the next round of Alpine Mentors. Started by the American alpinist Steve House, the program pairs younger climbers with some of the safest, fastest, and most experienced alpine climbers in North America. For two years I'll be climbing with Steve, Nik Mirashemi, Erik Rieger, Kurt Ross, and many other mentors. While there are others I wish were in the program too, I'm happy with the selection and look forward to a new era in my development as a climber and a human being. I'm thankful for this opportunity and I'm going to give it my complete dedication. At a certain point I realized I could no longer improve while only climbing with others of my age and skill level. as Mark Twight wrote:

"If you show dedication and desire, an inclination to learn, and some talent, many climbers will tell you or show you what they know. Even if they refuse to climb with you--and most will decline the honor--a mentor who knows the path you wish to tread can teach far more than any video, book, or school."

I've been fortunate enough to have many mentors, and I am thankful for everyone who's helped me along the way.  I hope to teach a younger generation of alpinists what I've learned, when I someday know things worth learning, and to repay a huge karmic debt.

I'll have some associated responsibilities, among them blogging on this site: http://www.alpinementors.org/blog/

To celebrate, I'll post some drawings I did this past fall. This may degenerate into a rant as all posts seem to. One piece is the result of 8 hours of work. The other is the result of 30 seconds of work. I think I like the second one more. The climber-as-artist cliche may be the most pushed and most vomitous cliche in all of the climbing media. a la: "climbing is my art, routes are a mode of expression, the rock is my canvas, I can draw a line on the otherwise blank stone, these crimps were chipped by Jesus, I can lick my own elbows, etc."

But I like to express myself by actually drawing things. I don't think bolting sport routes is even remotely similar to art, in fact its just hard work with industrial equipment. But I like doing that too.

Self portrait, 2 by 3 feet, charcoal.

iris in detail.

30second gestural ink.