In the end, we succeeded in having a grand adventure. Your standard rock climber often views climbing as success or failure—to summit or not. In this case, success was gauged by what we learned in the field and—due to the adverse weather— coming back in one piece. Sometimes that is reward enough. Vijay sums it up best: “It’s the adventure that entices me, the variability of weather, and the physical challenges shared and met by close friends in the natural world. The rewards that come with these ventures are irreplaceable, and will remain in my memory for years to come. It [was] totally worth it.”

Cody got amazing shots and managed to summit the tower (during an earlier recon mission). Josh didn’t get enough yet, and won’t feel satisfied until he succeeds on a summit with Vijay. I found the most satisfying time of the trip was being stuck in the storm with Vijay: we were on the same playing field and had to put our heads together to come up with a way out. As a group and individuals, we learned our limitations and what we can handle.

What’s next for Vijay? He’s looking to climb El Cap this summer. And we’ve planned climbing in the Colorado National Monument this fall. Any volunteers?

Editor's Note: Chris, Cody and Vijay were in the Fishers at roughly the same time as Rob Pizem and Jason Haas when they freed all the pitches on Cottontail's West Side Story in March of 2009 — a time when the Fisher Towers possibly saw more free climbing activity than ever before. Chris and his free climbing partner, Andy Donson didn't manage a completely free ascent of Echo Tower (FFA Stevie Haston, 5.12b) via Phantom Sprint, but they did free — ground up — all but about 7 points of aid to reach the summit. Another version of this story was previously published at the Denver Voice (denvervoice.org).