No, I am not dead and neither is T.S.M. Of course, I thought the world would come to an end a couple of times: Climbing is officially in the Olympics and I found climbing ropes and harnesses for sale at a big national sporting goods store chain. Climbing has more mainstream than I ever thought it would be years ago.

I did cheat on my blogging sabbatical and gave you a new book review and an update, just to prove to myself things were okay. Deep down, I prefer climbing as a niche activity. And books about climbing are here for more than just climbers. Well written narratives can let us feel the climb the way videos and Olympic climbing cannot. Here are three new books that were just released or about to be released:

1. Damned If You Don’t by Chris Kalman (out now.) This is Kalman’s second self-published novel. His first book left his readers talking about the risks climbers take and their consequences. Kalman has taken his story-telling to a place near and dear to him in that some call the Yosemite Valley of South America. I will be reading it over the next few weeks and expect that he’ll strike me how he affected his readers with his first book.
2. Imaginary Mountains: The Riesenstein Hoax and Other Mountain Dreams by Katie Ives (releasing October 1, 2021.) Mountaineers Books will be releasing Katie Ives’, the Editor-in-Chief at Alpinist Magazine, new book on October 1, 2021. I read nearly everything Katie writes and this is one I am pre-ordering. She’s previewed snippets in Alpinist Magazine and on Facebook and I am looking forward to taking in for the mystery and the storytelling.
3. Closer to the Edge: Climbing to the Ends of the Earth by Leo Houlding (releasing in the UK in September 2022.) Houlding is a populist adventurer to some, and I don’t care for his television show, but if you ever listen to his interviews on podcasts, including the American Alpine Journal’s The Cutting Edge, he’s an insightful climber both about climbing and the times in which he climbs. I am going to be reading this one in curiosity.

I know that I said I would be back in July after a six-month break, but it was so good, I decided to go seven and wait until after my family vacation to New England. And then I was captivated by the climbing competition in the “2020” Olympics. Plus returning to work after two weeks off is difficult, so I’m back from my blogging sabbatical today.

Ending this blog crossed my mind. Wunderkind and Schnickelfritz are getting older, and surprisingly, need me more now than when they were smaller. Of course, they need me in different ways, like showing them how to run the bases or chip out of rough. The Habitat affiliate I run is growing and there are endless exciting challenges with that to ponder at all hours of the day, including how to building more homes with less and gain new donors. These were reasons enough to have dropped T.S.M. altogether, but the thought saddened me. Not because of the work I have done, but because I genuinely enjoy it. Even during my break I still read climbing books; I posted one book review despite the break, and I accepted two more climbing books explicitly for writing a review.

I am also glad that I waited the extra month for another reason. I got sucked into the plastic pulling in the “2020” Olympics. It has reminded me about why I started this blog in 2010. Although I don’t climb outdoors much any more, I still love to boulder at my gym and most of my fellow-gym climbers don’t read climbing books and they don’t know anything about the history of climbing, particularly climbing mountains. I am I right? I need to keep this blog up just so I can direct people to something that edifies them, and I hope my posts do that. As my old blog tag line circa 2010 said: Climbing matters… even though we work nine to five. I still believe that and hope everyone that needs to know that does too.

Since you’re here reading on T.S.M, you know that climbing is a special activity and that the ordinary day-to-day routine is dim without it. I’m with you. So whether you’re new to the sport thanks to climbing in the Olympics of you’ve been reading climbing books and wants to know what else is out there, you’re in the right place.

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