March 22, 2004
Dear Coach Ilg
My physically active and throughout life competitive father and brother were very interested in your accomplishments! My father may have seen you scale Half Dome (how many people are able to do something like that - and actually go and do it?!)
- Student R
Noble Student R -
tell your noble father and brother that i nearly wetted my pants the first time i hurt my neck looking up at the 4,000' overhanging chunk of granite from Yosemite Meadows at age 15. it took me three attempts to free climb Half Dome in Yosemite. on one attempt i lost 20 lbs and crawled onto the summit looking quite like an anorexic at 102 lbs! on the great wall (which takes about 3 days to climb if you free climb it), we would wake up and take voluntary 15' falls onto our rope just to get ready for the day ahead!
i fell so in love with Half Dome. i would love to free climb her again. I loved her the moment i first saw her sensual yawning folds of upward arcing granite in an Ansel Adams photograph.
i ended up free climbing all but about 60 feet of her amazing overhanging sheath of finger wrecking granite.
one of my most magnificent 'failures' of my feeble life!
there are many more.
but that is all past and Now is Here.
love,
coach ilg
author/TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION