“I went to the gym for the first time in over two months after returning from a road trip. It f*#king sucks. I was falling all over the place, too and those holds were hurting. My fingers are sore as hell. i watched in dismay as I got smoked by 17 year old gym rats. Then some kid who’s never touched stone in his life told me that I could be pretty good if I just improved my finger strength and then he started to walk away. So I grabbed him and threw him against the wall and I took his f*#king head and I put it on the f*#king floor and said, “you mutta f*#ka, I’ve taken 50 foot falls onto tiny tcu’s, I got respect in all 5 boro’s- sport, trad, big wall, ice, and alpine. My mudda can hold her head high in any crag in this country. Look at me, I got 26 first ascents under my belt and you’re going to walk out on me? I walk out on you.”

I mean I said, “yeah, I really need to work on my finger strength…..”