Mountaineering Is Hard, But Failure Is Even Harder

And each time I turned around I felt like a complete failure! Maybe it’s the universe’s way of telling me to pick another hobby. A safer hobby. A warmer hobby. In fact, each time I fail, I tend to go through the complete stages of grief. Seriously! I go through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and the hardest one, acceptance.

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Summer in Oromia

I left my home country Oromia at the age of 12 and immigrated to the Pacific Northwest United States. After saving up enough money I finally went back home at the age of 21. In those years that I was away from home I dedicated my time to learning about the history, the landscape and the culture of Oromia. So when I finally purchased my plane ticket I made a list of all the places that I wanted to visit and one of the places that was on top of my list was the Sof Omar Caves.

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#RepresentationMatters, from the Oscars to the Outdoors

We are in an ongoing fight for our collective imagination; that’s to say, we are in a constant battle for how we imagine things to be, reality or fiction aside. Fictional movies, dystopias and utopias; visuals on social media, music videos, and in art; the daily and nightly news; and even the written word are all in some way always affecting how we come to imagine the world to be, and so how we come to interact with it via our respective realities.

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Four Peaks Motherlode Traverse

From this point on things get significantly more strenuous.  The down climb to saddle between peak 4 and peak 3 took half an hour and the highly exposed trek to the summit of peak 3 another forty minutes.  At this point we were around 6 hours in to the traverse. The remaining 3 miles of the hike took another 11 hours of grueling routing finding and slow climbing.

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No, Where Are You Really From? Women of Color In Skydiving Speak, Pt 2

‘No where are you really from’ is a familiar question for Women of Color who are constantly asked to either prove our American-ness or explain our Other-ness when we really just want to sit-fly.

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Northwest Creeking Comp 2018

I'm always excited to see the size and depth of the paddling community here in the NW and this years event didn't disappoint. That dinner line is harder to walk though than a family reunion. You see people stopping every few feet to catch up with friends, or jockeying a spot in line with a new one.

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Adam Edwards
In Anticipation of the Ascent

I’ve purchased my flights and cleared my work schedule. This isn’t just another random vacation; today I’ve selected my next mountaineering objective. It’s no longer merely a lofty vision. There is a sense of palpability every time I glance at those chosen days on the calendar. This adventure that has captured my attention for years is coming nearer with each day. In these times of alpine anticipation, the wise will prepare and capture each valuable minute.

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Bouldering in Llama-Land!

Peru is a wonderful country for all outdoor enthusiasts! There is surfing, mountaineering, rock climbing, mountain biking, and much more.  For those of you who are interested in visiting Peru, I’ll share our experiences to hopefully make your trip planning smoother.  We split our time between Lima and Cusco, so this review will focus on the climbing in those areas.

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Strong Role Models

I can't help but dwell on the idea of where my relentless drive and fiery passion for doing something different, something unusual, despite my race, gender, small stature, and yes, even fear of heights. Although, when I look back, it's easy to realize it was primarily due to my mom and people like her who believed in me, even when I went through phases of not believing in myself.

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