We're not solving world hunger or anything, we're just doing this thing.
But it's just for some reason, I don't know, placing those pins, placing the cambs, moving
up, hauling, climbing some thin little crack.
No matter how many times the route's been done, it's still like you haven't done it
that many times.
It's still an accomplishment for yourself.
I don't know, I just love it.
I love every part of it.
I love the paragons flying around, I love the swifts, I love setting up my portal edge,
I love watching the stars come out at night and move through the sky, I love watching
the cars down here drive around, I mean I love watching the other climbers on the cliff.
And it's sort of an encapsulated experience in your life, it's got a real definite start
and a real finish and a real sort of theme to it that you can just, it's really encapsulated
I guess, I mean this is all it is.
When you go up on El Cap, we used to call going up on El Cap sort of like being in prison.
There's only so many things you can do, you only have so much water, you only have so
much food, you can only go so many places.
And so once you serve your time and do the thing, that's just a really unique part of
your life.
I mean it's hard not to have the same feeling, they all understand being on some hook and
being freaked out and searching for some cam or something that they don't know they have
and inching up on it and it holding and you know solving that puzzle of getting all the
way up El Cap and you know it can be freaky, it can be scary, you think you might die and
then solving that puzzle and getting over it, you know figuring it out, calling up that
courage that you need to do it and you know stepping on that hook, stepping on that cam
behind the flake, moving up, finally clipping the anchors, going yay man, you know I mean
it's pretty nice, settling on to the anchor and letting your buddy go on the next pitch,
you know it's nice and so we've all been there, we've all experienced you know pretty
much the same thing and so you can really relate to the next guy.
There's a couple guys that the only time I've ever seen them in their lives over the last
five years has been right here on the bridge and I don't even know where they live but
I see them on the bridge every single time and I know who they are and you know I sort
of know what they've been doing, maybe keep track of them on Facebook and stuff but you
know it's like you walk up, hey man you're good to see you, what are you going to do
this year, oh I'm going to do nose and a day or I'm going to do reticent or I'm going
to solo this and you know we all sort of understand that a little bit so we all understand what
the guy is going through, you know can I do the nose and a day, can I hang it on reticent
for that long, you know do I have it in me to solo an El Cap route so we can all sort
of relate to different parts of it so yeah and you know I would get to know a guy's
strength and he would say oh I want to solo this route and I would go oh man that's you
know that's going to be balls out for you, I know you can do it but you know you got
to do this or you got to do that, you got to handle it this way you know and he'll go
okay yeah yeah okay and you know figure it out and so we are a family, we do care about
each other, I mean if someone's going to go up there and they look all squirrely and they're
talking a big game and somebody doesn't really think that they know what they're doing you
know you'd sit them down and you might go hey alright you understand that when you get
here you got to do this or getting down is going to be you're going to be calling for
a rescue so you know we take care of people like I said with my hauling system people
are always coming up to me and asking me about that and I give them my tips and just help
them I want and everybody on the on the on the bridge wants people to succeed on their
route you know there's no there's no ego that I did it and you didn't do it you know it's
not it's not I'm better than you it's we're all out here having fun and so I want you
to have fun I want you to be safe check out this haul system you need some cams I'll loan
you some cams go get these totem cams forget this forget that you know blah blah blah blah
buff them out so that they have a good time we're at the base of the of the ropes we were
wrapping off off of off of free rider because of extended rain and so we got to the ground
and they were these guys that were going up on free rider and so they said well what's
the monster crack like I mean blah blah blah and so you know we're exchanging beta and
the guys ready to start jumoring away and he goes well how about a I mean we only have
one six we need more than one six I said oh yeah you need two sixes and he goes oh man
oh bummer we only have one six and so I just I don't even know this guy so I dug in my
haul bag and I gave him a six I mean I don't know what six costs that's 120 bucks or something
but I just knew that I was gonna get it back I said hey you can find me at the bridge just
leave it at the bridge just tell it's tell you know you know me my name you know my name
leave it at the bridge I'll get it don't worry about it and sure enough I got it I got a
six pack of cookies I got a bunch of beer you know I mean there was no way in the world
that guy was gonna rip off my six I didn't even know this guy so and that's that's sort
of the way it works and it's sort of the way I really enjoy doing it I'm an old guy you
know and I've done it and I've done it well I think I you know and and and I've never
told anyone that I'm a better climber than them that I have that I'm stronger than them
I just have more desire than most people so I try to instill into the the climbers at
the bridge that if they want to do it if they want to suffer and they're willing to do that
they want to think about it and they want to figure it out that they can do it because
there nobody is any better than them I'm not any better than anyone else I just want it
and so you have to want it you have to be able to go up there and suffer figure it out
and get it done so yeah there's a lot of people that come up to me in that and do that and
I'm always very encouraging I had people last spring come up to me with just a bag of stuff
and they said mark help us with our two to one system and they just dumped out this bag
of cords and beaners and pulleys and stuff and I just said okay so this is what you want
tie it up like this tie it up like that don't use this pulley use this pulley you know blah
blah blah blah blah and they go okay and so now how the heck do we use this and so I
sat there and we sat you know I figured I told her how to use it hook this clip that blah
blah blah so coincidentally they were doing the nose right at or not the nose the mirror
wall right ahead of myself and another and my partner and so we caught up with them on
the upper corner and they were yelling down to us that whole system is great that's great
we love it thanks you know which I'm going yay you know we're I'm helping them there
they're succeed you know succeeding in their dreams I mean it's an easy thing to do and
people people here know that it's it's an easy thing to do is to help people go succeed
in their dreams you know just just I mean offer some technique advice or you know you'll see
some Gumby and he's got all this cluster hanging around you go hey man you want to tip get
rid of this get rid of that get rid of this get rid of this use that you know straighten
this out you know and sometimes those guys they ignore you sometimes they come back and
they're you're they're your best buddy you know which I'd much rather they'd be my best
buddy.
