Climbing, Sailing, and Entropy

Connor McCrillis made his first ice axe during his freshman year of high school. We begin this conversation on the topic of DIY by talking about homemade boats (originally a blend of wood and fiberglass), and his first ice axes (laminating wood and carbon fiber, and stainless steel for the head) then we take a deep dive into sailing, hydrodynamics, racing boats, and DIY boat building, and coaching juniors to race sail boats.

Deeper in, we reach the main point of the discussion, which is climbing, specifically ice climbing, and the set of carbon-fiber ice tools that Connor handmade for Mark. We talk around the concept of soloing, risk, and risk applied "socially" in the gym where there is little so it must be manufactured in order to enforce presence of mind. Social risk can feel just as scary or dangerous (and therefore motivating) as physical risk.

Connor neatly ties the intensity and precision required by soloing back to the proper execution of a jibe on a hydrofoil sailboat without settling the hull onto the water surface. The body awareness required to execute these maneuvers on the water are not dissimilar to the awareness needed to move over steep rock and ice, or to move purposefully and with elegance in the gym.

"Where I live is in the middle of nowhere which means it's in the middle of everywhere."