“The way is beautiful…but maybe it is heavy”

I find it hard to know where to start when so very much has transpired in the last several months.  It all started with our leaving our home in Japan, via a whirlwind of visitations across Texas culminating with our move into our beautiful and exciting new house in Italy.   

The gear is finally unpacked, the Profotos are charged, the Drobos are plugged in and I am once again on the road.  Two days ago I loaded the car with camera, climbing, and camping gear and took off on a crushing 14hr drive to Rodellar, Spain to essentially return to work.  I came to shoot with world class Adidas climbers Sasha DiGuilian and Dani Moreno on beautiful, mighty Spanish walls.  Sasha, following her win at the Spanish Championships in Gijon last weekend, is working on what would be the first female ascent of a powerful 8c route. The first day went without a hitch and both Sasha and Dani are amazing to watch and even more inspiring to photograph.  We tentatively have all week to shoot and push it but now however, we are stuck.  We are in a holding pattern as the rain curse, which has followed me since I landed in Europe, follows me.  With a forced rest day I was able to edit a bit but for the most part I am just itching to get back on the rope and behind the lens. 

After the cursing of the sky and the lamentation over a lost day of opportunity we spent last night eating a beautiful meal at the Refugio and I found myself content with the realization of my wilderness office and my assignment.  I often talk about the gratitude I feel towards my subjects and my career but it is something truly difficult to convey with words of appropriate weight.  Hanging 90 meters of the valley floor watching one of the sports most talented and accomplish athlete’s crossing over the lip of the cave with grace and power and being there to capture that feat is still, to me, a wonderful gift.  As a photographer and I would imagine professional athletes we find ourselves fighting for days like these, through the rain days and in-between assignments.  When however, you finally get on the rope or behind the lens it all becomes fluid and right.  Like my Italian climbing partner says, “The way is beautiful…but maybe it is heavy” but the weight, the difficulty is so very worth it. 

As I type I am watching the sun fight through the clouds, time to go see if the rock is dry.  More to come.

 

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