Guest post by Greg Kerzhner, Developer
5am, Saturday morning
The sun rises. I am 600 feet up a route called “the freerider” on El Capitan. There are 2700 feet to go (that’s 2 and half Empire State buildings or about 200 flight of stairs). I’m wearing a t-shirt and carrying a liter of water for the day, still jittery from the morning coffee.
The climb is paused at this point, but there is not much time to stop. We climb and climb and climb. Hours pass and soon it’s 5pm, 12 hours into the climb.
Throughout the climb, I have taken several falls, lost my biggest piece of gear and found and drank random water left by others, adding some iodine I brought with me.
During the last hours, we get very cold. The plan to go fast and light turns sour because we are way too exhausted to go fast, but we manage to keep it light.
I shiver so much, my side throbs in extreme pain. I wish, pray, and dream of being off this goddamn cliff.
At 6pm, we are on top, having climbed Yosemite’s most proud free climb in 13 hours, a feat that takes most people at least 3 days.
How is it relevant to coding? I think it teaches perseverance. To not give a fuck about results and small matters when bigger obstacles are at stake. To take a huge problem like El Capitan and break it into small pitches, methodically, until you reach the summit. To remember that a Netsuite fire is the greatest thing that a climber can wish for in the middle of a cold granite cliff voyaging for the top.
This is what inspires me about climbing.
In an attempt to bring different perspectives to the Blog, and to be inspired by our fellow colleagues, the Blog will often feature guest posts, written by GT team members
