Author Archives: Gregory

Another Sistine Chapel truth

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Gregory

Another artistic truth etched in the Sistine Chapel ceiling: “When will it be done?” growled the Pope. “When it’s finished, [expletive unspoken],” replied Michelangelo. [A joke cribbed from a manuscript I'm reading.]

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The Hindenburg Disaster

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Gregory

Moon Chin, one of China’s Wings main supporting characters, told me about the huge impression seeing the Graf Zeppelin over Baltimore made on him when he was a boy. Here’s an incredible run of Hindenburg photos published on The Atlantic’s … Continue reading →

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Eurasia Ju-52 at Chungking’s Sanhupa Airport

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Gregory

A partnership between Lufthansa and the Nationalist Chinese government, Eurasia Airlines was CNAC’s great commercial rival through the 1930s and early ’40s. An email correspondent just brought this superb photo to my attention. It shows  one of Eurasia’s Ju-52s, and … Continue reading →

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Gorgeous adventure footage

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Gregory

I’ve been staring in slack-jawed astonishment at this adventure footage from Renan Ozturk, especially at the spectacular scenes in Alaska’s Ruth Gorge that start near the midpoint. Looks to me like those scenes were taken high on the SE Buttress … Continue reading →

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Photos and stories from the first ascent of Shaken, Not Stirred

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Gregory

Amongst a lot of great climbing in the mid- and late- 1990s, my Enduring Patagonia years, Jim Donini and I made the first ascents of what struck me as three truly world-class alpine climbs: in Patagonia we did The Old … Continue reading →

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Jim Donini interview

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Gregory

I just discovered this interview with my great climbing partner Jim Donini which was done by Denali Mountaineering in 2000. Lots of fun. Here’s a link to the audio.

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Sam Page review of Enduring Patagonia

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Gregory

Sam Page runs an interesting website called The Mountaineering Review, and he just posted a review of Enduring Patagonia. I’m happy he enjoyed Enduring Patagonia so much, and that he got a kick out of the ball washing stories — … Continue reading →

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A Fine Piece — photos from the first ascent

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Gregory

Here are a bunch of images from the first ascent of A Fine Piece on the west pillar of Cerro Pollone that Jim Donini and I made in November, 1999. They just came back from slide scanning yesterday. [UPDATE, 3/5/2013: … Continue reading →

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Parenting, climbing, and Enduring Patagonia – watching my son read my book

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Gregory

Strange experience last night. My 12-year old son Ryan and I were reading at the kitchen table last night when he exploded with gales of laughter. Nothing too unusual about that, except for the fact that he’s reading my book, … Continue reading →

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The DC 2 1/2

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Gregory

The DC 2 1/2… one of the best stories in China’s Wings.

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