== Profile ==
Age: 35
Years with T1D: 10 years
Age of diagnosis: 24
From: Calgary, AB
Years climbing: 10 years collectively
Favorite type of climbing: alpine multipitch
Goals: improve at crack climbing, take up classic routes in stunning settings such as the Bugaboos or Cirque of the Unclimbables.
Contact: [email protected]
== Bio ==
Mountain sports have always played a role in my life, in no small part due to my parents who engaged in climbing, mountaineering, and skiing as part of their calling with Canadian National Parks. In my younger years, I would regularly climb with my Dad on the routes he set up behind the Radium Hot Springs wardens office, and then head out on longer alpine or mountaineering trips in the Purcell Mountains or along the Icefields Parkway. During my studies in Calgary, climbing faded into the background, though I did on occasion get out with colleagues from the Computer Science department, which had a very healthy population of climbers, amongst both students and profs.
On February 1, 2003, out of the blue, I was diagnosed with T1D after experiencing unusual fatigue, thirst, and blurred vision. The day is memorable as it was also the day of the Columbia space shuttle disaster, and with the initial shock of diagnosis and the sudden shift to daily pricking and shots, it felt like my life was also headed for a fiery re-entry. Ten years later, I’m still kicking and doing well, though still need to be wary of the risks of hypos that come along with insulin use and an active lifestyle.
Three years ago I got back into sport climbing with renewed vigour, heading to the climbing gym and crags in the Bow Valley and Kananaskis regularly with friends from work and the Calgary Alpine Club. Unlike other sports I’ve undertaken, climbing tends to push my blood sugars upward, which gives it unique challenges from a T1D perspective, and thus far has enabled me to avoid hypos while on the wall (things get more complicated when you factor in long or steep approaches that DO lower blood sugar).
This year I have been pushing more into trad climbing, as this opens the door to so many more destinations (e.g. Devils Tower, which Steve and I scaled last June). The appeal of climbing for me is twofold - it can take you to spectacular places that relatively few people will ever visit, and it mentally forces you leave the rest of the world behind, as your thoughts remains unconditionally focussed on your next move.
With Team Living Vertical, I look forward to sharing exciting new challenges on big walls and summits with other T1Ds.
