A Little Bit of This & a Little Bit of That

This winter has been kind to me thus far. At this point, my seasonal gig hanging and taking Christmas lights is almost complete. Honestly– good riddance. The job’s been good to have, but I must say, I haven’t loved it.

My favorite part has been the social aspect. I work with folks from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and Ecuador. As you can imagine, we spend all day speaking Spanish. I’ve particularly enjoyed listening to new Spanish music in the truck.

• Honduran “Punta” Music

• Honduran “Raspe” Music

• Mexican “Ranchera” Music

Training Check In

Besides work, I’ve been training in the gym a lot. I’m four weeks into my plan. This fourth week is a “deload” week. The chiller regiment this week has been really welcomed. That’s because the previous three weeks were INTENSE. And my body is feeling it.

It’s been a while since I’ve pushed myself like this, and it feels good. Well, it actually feels bad. It hurts. But you get what I mean. It helps that I’ve got some motivation with my climbing trip in Red Rock coming up in April.

Winter Time Writing

When I’m not outside in the frigid temps, stripping trees of Christmas lights or peeling light from frozen gutters, I’m inside at my computer working on my writing. Part of that is this newsletter. A portion is copywriting for clients, like Giva. And Climbing Magazine.

I published another article with Climbing Magazine.

A large part of my job is pitching stories to media outlets. This time of year, I'm constantly dreaming up story ideas and trying to sell them to editors. I use a spreadsheet to list outlets where I think my writing could be published.

It can be a lot of work. But at the same time, I can’t afford for it to be too much work. It’s a delicate balance of investing just enough time and creative energy for the process to not be too much of a time suck. Because, unfortunately, a lot of my pitches don’t land.

Sometimes I get ghosted. Other times, editors respond back explaining that they want to pass on my idea. (A response is actually a “good” thing). Just yesterday, an editor for Trails Magazine even said, “Keep the ideas coming!” So that was cool.

My first piece of “fan mail”

Last month, I got a “fan mail” in my inbox. A reader of an article I published in the 46th Issue of ROVA Magazine reached out with some follow-up questions. They’re from Iowa and wanted to know how/where to get started with rock climbing. That was COOL.

You can pick up a copy of the 46th issue HERE.

I also published a story in the 40th issue of ROVA last year.

My Poetry Plans

Other than work that pays the bills, I’ve been revisiting some of my old poetry. I’ve decided to slowly publish some of my old stuff on Rope & Stone. The poems I’ve selected thus far have some connection to climbing or mountains.

If it’s an old poem, the subtitle will reveal when it was originally written. Some of them are going on 10 years old, which is crazy to think. All of the old poems will come out in the first half of the year.

In addition to revisiting old poetry, I’m planning to create some new stuff. I just have to figure out how to break out of my poetry-related writer’s block.

Winterfest 2025

I’ve got some exciting news on the guiding front– I’ll be offering two workshops at the Gunks Climbers Coalition (GCC) Winterfest 2025.

Winterfest 2025 workshops

1. Multi-pitch transitions: speeding up transition times between pitches in a multi-pitch setting.

2. Climbing in a party of three: leading with, belaying, and managing two ropes while climbing in a party of three.

When I began guiding in the Gunks, one of my goals was to get involved with the local climbing festivals. Last year, I missed out because of a pre-planned vacation, so it's cool to see my goal come to fruition this year with Winterfest 2025. Later this year, I hope to be on the instructor roster for the outdoor GCC event in the Fall.