Sendtember draws to a close with Rifle getting its first 5.15a thanks to Joe Kinder. He sent his project last weekend. “Kinder Cakes” is a direct line out of the center of the Skull Cave, and having belayed Joe on it here and there over the last year, it contains some of the most impressive and athletic moves through a dead-horizontal roof that I’ve seen. Congrats to Joe for putting this route together. It’s impressive how prolific he is as a first ascentionist and developer of sport climbs around the country.
Speaking of Joe Kinder, it was interesting to see the response to my essay about him earlier this month. It definitely struck a nerve with lots of folks, with most people responding quite positively to the story. There are some encouraging signs in the broader culture that the fever of our moral panic is breaking, although we’re not there yet.
I also appreciated all of the support through subscriptions to Evening Sends that came in, as I was considering putting this story behind a pay-wall, but felt strongly enough in the message that I decided it needed to be made public. This support is really what allows me to try to continue writing as honestly as I can in a climate in which honesty is becoming scarcer and scarier.
What I’m reading
I just finished “Dammed if you Don’t,” by Chris Kalman, who we invited onto The RunOut last year. Kalman Kickstartered this book with an impressive $15G haul last year, and now it’s here. Holding the 4”x6” hard bound, jacket-less book in your hand makes it feel like the hand-crafted art project that it is, and you can’t help but appreciate the amount of soul that went into creating it.
The work of fiction is about a climbing valley in South America that gets discovered and ultimately over-run. The novella includes a group of characters such as Gary, who might only be sponsored because he is Indigenous, which is the kind of detail that I felt made the story feel somewhat forced. The plot is less of a narrative and more of an allegory. In that sense the book fell short for me in its power to actually tackle the trendy social-justice-y themes—identity, capitalism, exploitation, indigenous people—it portends to address. The use of a third-person narrator often left me as a reader feeling rudderless, the adjective-laden prose could at times be onerous, and together these things seemed to prevent the author from being able to give much more than a superficial gloss to the complicated themes that the book aspires to tackle.
Climbing fiction is a tough genre, especially as the real world of climbing is full of so many unbelievable and true stories that are stranger and more compelling than anything you could up with with. But if climbing fiction is your cup of tea, this book is certainly worth your time. Even skeptics like me appreciate the undeniable heart and soul that Kalman poured into this book, and I’m happy to have this work of art on my bookshelf.
What I’m watching
Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold have released a rock climbing MasterClass. I got an early peak at the course and reviewed it in full for Outside Magazine. As I wrote in the review, the course would only be appropriate for beginner climbers, but these guys have such a fun rapport that I enjoyed watching the whole thing. I’m a happy MasterClass subscriber, mostly for the Thomas Keller cooking courses.
What I’m wearing
I just reviewed the Five Ten Crawe, a moderately aggressive shoe that I think could be a good option for intermediate climbers looking to get into a more “advanced” climbing shoe. Check out the full review below.
I’ve also got a new shirt I’m rocking in my Evening Send swag store. This design was inspired by a phrase I hear often enough that I decided to put it on a shirt. Mostly I made this shirt to send to my frenemies.
What I’m listening to
Jordan Cannon returns to the Enormcast. Check it out! And click here for an essay on Jordan. And don’t miss our interview with him on The RunOut.
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