No easy climb

The year was 2005, my first time in the Trap Dike and well before I became a guide into this treacherous climb over rock.

I squirmed upward in a chute after being gulled into what looked like an easy way around the crux waterfall. Atop the channel, I fumbled for a handhold while my friend reassured me, “It’s ok, reach a little farther. Don’t panic.”

I was a neophyte climber at the time and had an overwhelming fear of heights or, moreso, a fear of falling. Neither hiking the High Peaks nor scrambling up a dozen slides had prepared me for