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CLIMBING_HISTORY
February 5, 2013
Like I said: CLIMBING
"I've been a climber as
long as I can remember." And actually, that's
pretty far. I remember
Surmounting child a lot from the old days
barriers was probably when we lived in
my first challenge, but Brooklyn. We moved EARLY
I quickly went from when I was five.
there to climbing a
rope swing in our back For some extra-added
yard, climbing the pretentiousness, let's
street corner sign This would be name the "periods" in my
poles, and so on. the "little climbing.
monkey" period,
Oddly enough, there to quote a
were not a lot of phrase my mother
climbable trees in used often.
my life back then.
The neighborhood was
full of very old, I owe my malocluded jaw
large trees whose to an early tricycle Consequently, my
trunks were expanding accident, slamming the mother has not been
and buckling the front wheel into one the only person to
sidewalk. of these sidewalk comment on my ape-like
cracks. qualities. These days
I get to hear "blonde
gorilla" fairly often.
But once out in the 'burbs of Long
Island, I went to work on the local
trees, and then school buildings and The "monkey pack"?
such. In the early days, I had some
climbing friends among the local kids.
There were then a few years when I stopped SOLITARE
climbing (and also didn't hang out much
with any one), but I went into a teenage And this is the
solo climbing phase, after I had a "but "post-Doorways
why did I stop doing that?" epiphany climbing renaissance".
(inspired by reading Zelazny's "Doorways
in the Sand")
Later versions
When I was in college, I was known as of my "The Mist"
that odd guy who would climb down from DOORWAYS revolved around
the roof to get into his room if he climbers...
forgot his keys.
THE_MIST
After graduating, I took a job in Idaho, where
outdoor sports were king, and when I mentioned
"rock climbing" I was immediately directed to an
expert in our group (there were two, in a group Pocatello Idaho
of around a dozen engineers). turned out to be
ideal for rock
In grad school, the climbing habit gradually dwindled: climbing: a long
I had no regular climbing partners (though I would series of 50 foot
repeatedly take out beginners for their first climbs, high cliffs could
and was constantly on the look-out for potential be found just
girlfriends that might become climbers)-- outside of town.
The central difficulty though, was that I was Longer drives
losing interest in driving long distances. would take you
to places like
But climbing gyms have become very "City of the
prevalent-- and I suspect rock Rocks", and it
climbers are getting more common-- was only a few
But for no good reason I've yet to hours to get
develop the "Mission Cliffs" habit. to the Tetons.
Even after returning
to Long Island for a
while there I would do
long day trips up to
the 'gunks.
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