Once bitten, it was fast, furious and all consuming. Trial, error and the timeless pages of ‘Mountaineering – Freedom of the Hills’ were my teachers. Route guidebooks and the history of the sport were equally as fascinating. I spent many a night reading and practicing knots before falling asleep. I begged, borrowed and essentially stole (recruited) climbing partners when needed. My rack consisted largely of used gear from the Boulder Sports Recycler, found crag schwag and the occasional new weapon via holiday or birthday gift: a harness, shoes or rope. My traditional climbing skills were evolving, leading me into aid climbing as bigger objectives quickly popped on my radar. Aid climbing started rocky for me, having a brush with death (small refrigerator-sized block dislodged/pinned me to the ground) and a homemade port-a-ledge “product testing” fiasco (picture middle of the night equipment failure “taco” surprise). Thankful for my short-term memory, I continued to pursue and progress despite occasional setbacks/injuries. After a few years, I had success locally in places like Eldo, the South Platte and on the Diamond as well as elsewhere throughout the states with numerous multi-day big wall ascents on El Cap, Half Dome and Zion. My attention then focused on a long-term dream of climbing in Patagonia which came to fruition immediately after graduating from CU in the late 90’s. It was an epic trip indeed from incredible failures and legendary storms to triumph and tragedy. After more global climbing excursions, my climbing focus shifted to and continues to be on, the disciplines of sport climbing and bouldering.