There is only one Michael Reardon. A force of nature in constant motion, this talented free soloist based out of southern California has had his hand in the climbing and film worlds for two decades now. He is an “Outlaw” — a civilized wild man who might spend a day hammering out hundreds of ropeless pitches in Joshua Tree but spend the next at home in Oak Park, near Malibu, walking the family dogs, editing film clips, and talking teenage angst with his daughter, Nikki, and wife, Marci. Or you might find him tearing across the spine of the High Sierra, on the Palisade Traverse. To keep up with Reardon is nearly impossible, so we decided to let him do what he does best — get out and climb, and tell his story in his own words, with this new Michael Reardon pro blog.

April 15, 2007 

3:12 am. I always wake up at 3:12 am. Too late to party, too early to start the day, and there are times that I’ve done both. Here at home I keep it simple and sit up. Used to my habit, my wife Marci remains asleep, pulling away and curling her body around Bailey, the 6-pound Papillion with a Napoleon complex. Ninety pounds of white fur stirs at my feet as the other half of the wonder mutts, Reno, stretches to let me know he’s also awake. Pajamas on, I stagger to the front door and let Reno out for a midnight relief in the bushes that separate our home from 30 square miles of wilderness. I join him in watering the plants. It’s a boy thing, proven further when Bailey stumbles out to our little party. Too tired to lift a leg, he squats like a girl then thrusts his chest forward, challenging anyone disparaging his technique. 

I see myself in them. We bark, sometimes loudly to get our message across. We stand firm in our convictions, rarely admitting when we are wrong. We back our actions with our bite, sometimes to devastating consequences both personal and otherwise. But really, we’re furry sissies peeing in the bushes and living in the moment. Life is not short if the adventure is lived, and what an adventure this climbing life has been!