Fear can only paralyze us if we let it. Don’t let fear hold you back, learn to face it head on.

Instead of bringing you a picture-perfect wrap up of my year, I’m bringing you the facepalms. The eye-opening, adrenaline-pumping stories where things could have gone a little bit better. Oh, and plenty of totally embarrassing photos.

Fall brings stunning color to the Colorado Rockies. What better way to experience the magic than a difficult hike to the top of a high pass in the Gore Range?

Have you ever had a day in the mountains so perfect you forgot that you were doing something difficult? Perhaps the weather was just right, maybe you met some cool new friends, or perhaps you satisfied your desire to complete a certain route. Well, for my day on Father Dyer, it was all three.

There is something about climbing rocks that keeps bringing me back. The challenge of facing fears never comes easily. Climbing teaches us to keep pushing back on that fear. The harder you push the more you realize what you are truly capable of.

I stand there, frozen, unable to speak, pinching a ledge of rock about a knuckle deep for dear life. We had bushwhacked our way up a Castlewood Canyon to hang out on some walls and get our climb on – however at that moment it was the last thing I could bring myself to do. Half way up a route where the holds went from gentle 5.9 jugs to a grueling 5.11a. finger killers. There I was, stuck in my sick fantasy on how was I going to fall to certain death. Tears started to trickle down my face.