



Two weeks ago, Mark put his year long battle with “Rage to Live” (5.13a/b) to rest. Rage tackles a beautiful and blank technical section of the Beaver Wall on Mount Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona. The Beaver Wall is known for razor blade crimps, and only letting climbers get a couple burns in before their finger tips are shredded. This makes projecting here slightly masochistic, temperature dependent, and only sought out by a few. On and off for a year, while getting an engineering degree, Mark made trips up with friends after class, after work, whenever he could catch Beaver just as it would go into afternoon shade. The route was well within his ability, not quite his limit, though over the course of the first season the mental battle became the true crux. This Spring, Mark returned to the Beaver Wall with an entirely new mindset. Happy to reunite with an old friend, he spent one day reacquainting himself with the moves, then returned four days later with fresh skin ready to Rage. He put it down that second day of the season, after a patient, year long process.

music:

Already – Anderson Pa.ak

Fafa – Vieux Farka Touré



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