Vertical Nirvana by Joe Cauteruccio
I hung, swaying in the wind gazing around at the sea of granite flowing in all directions. I couldn’t believe where I was and what I was doing. Looking down the cars on the road below resembled ants scurrying around in daily monotony. I peered up and descried Aleksey evanescing behind the features of the monolith. The gale played a symphony against the arętes and dihedrals. Finally I felt the jerk of the rope, our lifeline, on my harness. I cautiously began to ascend the cold, abyss like cracks which guarded the summit. As I progressed slowly towards the top my eyes burned form the shimmer of the sun off the yellow and golden granite. After one hundred feet of climbing I reach Aleksey and my haven the belay ledge. Seven hours of clambering towards heaven without water. I was parched, I was fatigued and completely sapped of energy and this is what I do for fun. My trance focused on mike scurrying up the pitch below which unfolded below me. Aleksey peered through the haze veiling the apex of our prize: El Capitan, east buttress, 1,700 feet of vertical nirvana.