Will Gadd on Staying Home: “The Storm Always Stops”

Will Gadd is one of Canada’s most celebrated ice/mixed climbers with years of being a leader on expeditions around the world. Like many top climbers, he’s urging everyone to stay home and to let healthcare professionals prepare for a possible surge in coronavirus cases across Canada.

The storm always stops, the winds always die, and the sun always rises. We just have to wait for it.

We encourage everyone to stay home (but to get outside for low risk exercise) and to be patient while the world’s authorities come to grip with covid-19 and tries to manage the situation. Read Will Gadd’s post about staying at home below.

Freedom. It’s a big word, but it describes what I love about being in the mountains. Breathing life in, sucking down huge lung fulls filled with the joy of moving with confidence and competence. Right now I would love the freedom to be climbing again, but the freedom of the hills is less important than the ability of others to also breathe freely. Many of my friends are front-line dealing with with this pandemic, and I don’t want them to have to deal with me if I were to have even a small accident or misstep. I’ll still walk in my local valleys with my family (keeping real social distancing) as long as I’m allowed, but right now my higher risk sports are far less important than slowing this epidemic down, especially for those are not choosing their risks.

We will find freedom in the mountains again, but we’re in the “Unknown unknown” stage of this pandemic; until it becomes clear what the outcomes are, for me, it’s time to pull in, slow down, think and wait. Dream. Help others as best I can, even if that just means staying out of the way of those who need our shared resources the most. I look forward to cranking on ice tools, hearing my glider strain, laughing in the sun with a big group of stoked people. The storm always stops, the winds always die, and the sun always rises. We just have to wait for it.

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Freedom. It’s a big word, but it describes what I love about being in the mountains. Breathing life in, sucking down huge lung fulls filled with the joy of moving with confidence and competence. Right now I would love the freedom to be climbing again, but the freedom of the hills is less important than the ability of others to also breathe freely. Many of my friends are front-line dealing with with this pandemic, and I don’t want them to have to deal with me if I were to have even a small accident or misstep. I’ll still walk in my local valleys with my family (keeping real social distancing) as long as I’m allowed, but right now my higher risk sports are far less important than slowing this epidemic down, especially for those are not choosing their risks. We will find freedom in the mountains again, but we’re in the “Unknown unknown” stage of this pandemic; until it becomes clear what the outcomes are, for me, it’s time to pull in, slow down, think and wait. Dream. Help others as best I can, even if that just means staying out of the way of those who need our shared resources the most. I look forward to cranking on ice tools, hearing my glider strain, laughing in the sun with a big group of stoked people. The storm always stops, the winds always die, and the sun always rises. We just have to wait for it. Helmcken Falls, 2011, @christianpondella photo of course. @timemmett ,looking forward to getting back there with you again, yeah!

A post shared by Will Gadd (@realwillgadd) on Mar 26, 2020 at 7:45am PDT