Why Brexit is Impossible

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I weighed in on British politics over on Medium today. Feel free to go check it out if you’re curious about the Brexit clusterfuck. I am not reproducing the whole piece here because I assume most of my audience doesn’t care.

Here’s the Cliff Notes:

There are two simple options:

  • Britain will leave the EU without a deal (a.k.a “No Deal Brexit”)
  • The UK will never leave the EU

These are the only options remaining. Although the UK Parliament recently voted to make it “illegal” to leave the EU without a deal, they themselves have refused to approve the only deal possible.

British lawmakers are still pretending a better deal is possible, when anyone who has dedicated a few moments to think about the problems realises: there is no “better deal.”British lawmakers are still pretending a better deal is possible, when anyone who has dedicated a few moments to think about the problems realises: there is no “better deal.”British lawmakers are still pretending a better deal is possible, when anyone who has dedicated a few moments to think about the problems realises: there is no “better deal.”

If you’re interested in reading more, find the whole piece on Medium: https://medium.com/@thisisyouth/there-is-no-possible-brexit-deal-97a9c58bf8d2

Climbing the Tetons

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Climbing Grand Teton National Park

The Grand Teton. There is perhaps no mountain more aesthetic in North America. It dominates the landscape, sharply rising more than 7,000 feet above Jackson, Wyoming.

The Grand is a worthy prize for any American mountaineer.

With two weeks to play with, my climbing partner Jose and I headed for the Tetons, with the ultimate goal of climbing the Exum Ridge.

But first, we had some training to do.

We were lucky enough to have a pair of tremendous hosts, Teton locals who housed us for two weeks and were more than happy to help us get up to speed on the approaches, rock quality, and general character of the range by showing us some of the better climbs in the Park that weren’t on the Grand Teton. (It’s always a good idea to do your homework in the mountains).

Without further adieu, here’s a two-week itinerary for climbing in the Teton Range:

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Some Summer Climbs

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I’ve spent the summer mostly writing on Medium (see my previous post), working, and climbing around Colorado.

Quite truthfully, I’ve felt a little too spent to write anything “serious.” That’s just how things are, for now. Y’all are used to me coming and going, I’m sure.

Here are some of the places I’ve been seeking my serenity:

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Find Me on Medium

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Hey friends, you may have noticed the blog has been a little light on content lately. That’s because I’ve been having a flirty summer romance with a different blogging platform.

That other platform is Medium.

Medium is an effort to create an ad-free space where writers and creators and showcase their work WITHOUT having to resort to problematic business models like sponsored content and display ads.

It hasn’t all been roses for Medium, which seems to undergo a major pivot about once a year. Nonetheless, the platform still exists and has a pretty nice distribution infrastructure in place — quality writing does, generally, end up in front of more eyes on Medium than it would elsewhere.

Medium also pays writers — I make significantly more there than I do here.

So I’ve been writing there, seeing what it can do for me. If you check out my Medium profile, you’ll see some new stuff alongside some older pieces that should be familiar to readers of this blog. I’ve always been a better writer than I am a marketer; and Medium seems to do a pretty good job marketing me. For instance, yesterday my article was featured on the front page of their travel section:

You can find that story here: https://medium.com/better-marketing/i-spent-3-months-in-an-instagram-hotspot-heres-what-i-learned-b8034854cc77

So if you’re a Medium user, please give me a follow at https://medium.com/@thisisyouth! It’s important to note that This Is Youth isn’t over – most content will probably be posted to both platforms – but my experiment with Medium has been going good so far, and looks like it will continue. So I’d love your support over there, as well.

As always, thanks for being loyal readers, and hope you’re enjoying your summers. I certainly have been.

Cheers!

The Colonization of Mount Everest

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Photo by Kalle Kortelainen on Unsplash

There was a viral photo last week, showing what appeared to be hundreds of people waiting in line on the summit ridge of Mount Everest.

I won’t share that photo here, as I haven’t paid for it. A quick Google search will turn it up if you haven’t seen it yet.

The man that took that photo was Nirmal Purja, a.k.a. Nims. Nims is a Nepalese climber who served in the British Gurkhas, and has been awarded the Member of the British Empire by the Queen of England for his accomplishments in high altitude mountaineering.

You may have seen his picture. But you don’t know Nims’ name.

That’s because Nims is Nepalese.

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