Something about desolation is beautiful. The solitude holds so tight. Out in the cold, in the old moans of the world, I can feel peace. Here, spirit winds paint gray stripes through the air and old trees paw at the clouds.

On a frozen river, on a bleak January Tuesday, I ski towards a pillar of solid, white ice. An immaculate column, the icefall seems to guard the upper river.

 Approaching, my ax sinks solid at the base and I work my feet up onto the crystal face. The swings and kicks begin and soon gain a rhythm, an almost hypnotic routine. Thirty feet up, I am pinned to the wall, ropeless, with two sunken ax placements. In this deserted river canyon, I stretch out, hunching my shoulders until my head droops into the wall. Here, my mind is clear, my life is focused, strangely, on one solitary task.

Topping the route, I climb up the slab until the snow again lays deep. Under a cedar bow, here in the Superior national forest, I drop my skis into the powder and continue upstream.

The roots of climbing lie not in numbers, not in altitude or grade, but in the experience. Although I immensely enjoy the physical side of climbing, this is not where my passion is. I climb to feel real life-the true state of existence. On a high icefall, on a run-out face, I feel more than the simple excitement of the route. In this situation, I feel closer to something real. I feel closer to the truth. It is in this surreal state of mind that climbing becomes less of a sport and more of a vehicle. And although this deep awareness, this taste of reality, is not limited to climbing, I feel it more strongly there.

The risk, the solitude, the focus demanded by this odd pursuit, these factors calm my often rushed mind. I claim no religious reverence to this sport, but I feel that climbing does bring me closer to a true understanding of life.

Take time to live life with a mind open to excitement and discovery. Climb and live with a passion often lost in our modern existence. Feel the warmth of cold wind, the brightness of dim stars, the life in fallen leaves.