National Outdoor Leadership School - Index

National Outdoor Leadership School - Summer2008 - Index

10
THE
Leader
Gabe Rogel
Gabe Rogel
The Hig
The Exped
I scissor my hand up and down in
the crack, clearing loose grains
of sand from the inside edge. The
purchase gets better and I com-
mit to the hold and begin clean-
ing the inside of the next. Midway
through my next excavation, the
edge of the crack outside my foot
fractures. The horizontal runnel
I’d been on one move before was
little better. I adjust my stance,
willing myself to be lighter. This
is climbing in Ethiopia, a minute-
by-minute guessing game of
what to trust in the environment,
and how to trust yourself acting
in that environment.
A seemingly unlikely climbing
destination, Ethiopia is better
known for drought, famine,
poverty, and war. It’s also known
as the birthplace and ruling
grounds of Emperor Haile Se-
lassie, the Queen of Sheba, and
the ancient Kingdom of Axum. Its
physical landscape stretches
from the fourth highest peak in
Africa, the 4,543-meter Ras
Dashen, to one of the lowest
points on Earth at the Danikil De-
pression, some 22 meters below
sea level, to the headwaters of
the Blue Nile. All of these ele-
ments make Ethiopia one of the
largest wild areas in Africa. And
with a vast expanse of 200-
meter-tall sandstone towers in
the north part of the country,
Ethiopia holds some of the most
intriguing climbing potential in
an area least known for the sport.