**disclaimer: there will be a handful of swear words scattered throughout this article — that’s abnormal for me + my writing — I’m sorry, but this is one time when I feel like censoring the Read more…
At the moment I’m bouncing about, overly stoked on life. Why?! Because I got up before the sunshine, pretended to go climbing indoors [it’s been a while, I’m rustier than I care to admit] + Read more…
I am one step closer to snagging the Wilderness upgrade for my EMT-Basic certification. While I don't plan on officially upgrading for at least another year [far too nomadic to get true work experience] it's empowering to add to my stash of rope tying, pulley rigging + snow traversing know-how. More importantly, I've learned a lot more than just how to string up a 6:1 pulley or best practices for building ice anchors. Since the internet is the last place you want to learn all the details about technical mountaineering I'm going to share the more emotional side of mountaineering...things I learned about myself + the mountains while I was out frolicking in the mountains in the name of "college credits". (more…)
I've kind of fallen off the face of the internet lately. And oddly enough it wasn't a planned part of a "screw you internet!" over reaction...it was simply life being life and getting in the way of life. How inconsiderate of life! I have spent the last 6 weeks immersed in an accelerated 10 week program to become an EMT. Going into this I really had no idea what EMTs did...I talked to a few people who were EMTs but it was a pretty general chat. It wasn't until the second day of class during a real heart-to-heart that I realized exactly what EMTs and Paramedics did in their day-to-day work life. It is not very glamorous; it's actually pretty disgusting on the "bad days" and there isn't always instant gratification; even when you do your job right. Rather than scare me off that realization made me want to work harder than ever to become the kind of EMT the medics wanted to work with. (more…)