The Pugilist

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/100375814″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]”Fantasies happen from a safe distance. It’s one thing to say you want something, even convince yourself of it. It’s another thing all together to stand under a 3,500-foot nightmare you’ve feared for 15 years and try to actually climb it,” writes climber and writer Kelly Cordes. At a quick consideration boxing and alpinism have little in common. Ponder if for a second and you might see the similarities. After years in the ring and even longer in the vertical life, Kelly certainly does. Each challenges its practitioner to accept fear. A boxer’s opponent can deal out pain and defeat and when you put it in that light, a mountain isn’t all that different. Today Kelly presents a story about the biggest fight of his life and embracing the mythic choss pile that has haunted him since his early days of climbing.

Music: Skulltaste by Mux Mool   •   Lying Around by Magic Bullets   •   Kites by Geographer   •   Song of the Night by ZLOX

Music provided by IODA Promonet.