Granite, schist, limestone, sandstone, and other rock types have subtle features and weaknesses, allowing passage to their summits. Fingers feel the unique texture of each type of rock.  Your fluid vertical movement over edges and along cracks will heighten your senses and remove all other thoughts. Learning how to read rock and embrace its challenges, problem-solve, and overcome fear is how you become intimate with the stone. The satisfaction of unlocking a sequence, or mastering an off-size finger crack stays with you until the next mysterious problem presents itself, and utter focus on the intricate maze of edges pulls from your experience to solve the problem.

Rock climbing is the most accessible of all types of climbing. From the roadside crags of New England to the more remote climbs of Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, the Bugaboos of the Canadian Rockies, and the many crags and peaks of the Alps, I would like to take you on a journey into the vertical world of stone.