Blog posts in Rock Climbing

Revisiting the Fisher Towers

April 6, 2018

It's been 20 years since I last touched the crumbly sandstone of the classic desert route, "Ancient Art," in the Fisher Towers near Moab, Utah. It is a favorite climbing area for many with a striking topography of thousand foot towers rising up from the barren martian red desert landscape. For me however, it is an especially meaningful spot. Two decades ago Mark Wellman, Hugh Herr and I roped up together to embark on the same climb, and started to dream of creating a movement we ultimately called No Barriers.

White Rim 2018: "My Soul, Made Stone"

March 30, 2018

Part 1 – White Rim – Setting the Stage “We climbed it not because it’s there, but because it won’t be there much longer” So said famous climbing pioneer, Layton Kor, of Standing Rock, an improbable, inimitable sandstone tower deep in Canyonlands National Park. This formation was one of the three towers we scaled on our six day bikepack of the White Rim Trail – 100 bumpy miles through an ethereal desert landscape carved by the Colorado River.

East Coast Visit - Retracing Steps

October 25, 2017

Last week I flew to the East Coast for a sensational meeting with Paychex in Rochester, NY.  My friend and America’s Got Talent finalist, Mandy Harvey, joined me and wowed the crowd with her pitch-perfect voice. It was a No Barriers day for sure! Photo credit: Timothy J. Toal

Reflections From a Rainy Fall

October 6, 2017

With a busted finger and bruised ribs from my excursion to the Alps in August, I haven’t been doing much climbing. In fact, my post-summer training has been a whole lot of my favorite supplements, like almond croissants and hazelnut lattes. While I recover and do my physical therapy, I can’t help but reflect on some of the awesome adventures I had this summer leading up to the Piz Badile. 

Adventure and Tragedy in the Alps

September 11, 2017

I'm now home safely in Colorado after a big summer climb that turned out to be full of adventure and fun, but also some challenge, uncertainty, and tragedy. Having visited the Italian Dolomites and the Alps several times, I've always been blown away by the pioneers of the 1930's and 40's like Cassin, Comici, and Bonatti, who set these bold and preposterous lines up massive rock and ice faces the size of El Capitan and often bigger.

Children of the Revolution

November 29, 2014

I’m now back from our memorable trip to Kazakhstan hosted by Eurasian Bank. When I fly halfway around the world for a speaking engagement, especially to a place with some of the most dramatic mountains in the world, I can’t help but get out and climb.

Climb on Binning Family Foundation!

March 14, 2014

Last week, the Touch the Top Team and I spent a morning climbing with some local youth from the Redirection Center in Littleton, Colorado,  which helps kids work through some of the challenges they face, both from circumstance and choices.

Hong Kong Adventure

March 26, 2012

Recently I was asked to speak in Hong Kong and had a few extra days to play. So my friend Rob Raker traveled with me for some truly exotic climbing. We met another friend, Stuart Sharpless who owns Paradigm Consulting, which is a diverse company involved in corporate team building, adventure films, and managing the top adventure athletes in Asia. Stuart was a wonderful host who showed us some of the highlights of Hong Kong.

BrainPort on BBC

July 8, 2011

Here's a short video of my climbing Castleton Tower, near Moab Utah, while using the BrainPort vision device. This is an excerpt from a TV special on BBC. It has shown in the UK but not on this side of the pond yet.

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