Desert Delusions: Friendship and Failure on The Thunderbird Wall

In March 1999 I found myself wedged in a sandy chimney, fully-gripped and trembling, five hundred feet off the deck.

Me and my partner Scott were attempting to climb The Thunderbird Wall, a grade VI backcountry behemoth in Zion National Park’s Kolab Canyon.  The face, which is among the highest sandstone walls in the world, had only been climbed twice since Jeff Lowe and Cactus Bryan made the first attempt in 1971. Scott had been to Zion once before.  I had never stood in a pair of aiders.  In hindsight, I can only blame the ignorance of youth for leading me to believe I had any business being on The Thunderbird Wall.

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