I have a great wife and a supportive extended family, two sons and a baby on the way. Planning adventures takes planning. The past two summers my family and I have tent camped for a month on Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia national park. Planning and packing for those adventures was great. This summer our family will stay more local. As I stared thinking about Avi and his scholarship I started daydreaming about the opportunities. Then back to planning. Step one: Ask my lovely bride if she will stay home with Bryce, 4, Joel, 2, and baby Bateman while I go on a trip if/when I am awarded the Avi Scholarship. The answer was yes! Gents, make sure you marry the right girl. Step two: Call Ben and pick an objective to submit in the proposal. I have read Yankee Rock and Ice, and I know Ben got a copy recently. Great book. After reading it I really wanted to climb Cannon and technical routes on Mt. Katahdin. Ben's new home in Maine would be the perfect launchpad for either of these adventures. I left Ben a voicemail today to find out his thoughts. Step Three: Get the proposal in.
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Ben Winkler was part of the original crew that opened ET Columbia. About a month after the gym opened I started working there. Pretty soon Ben had taken me under his wing and I took my first trips to the New River Gorge with him. When I did my first trad leads at Seneca it was Ben that was holding my rope. If I am granted the Avi Scholarship it will be used to visit Ben in his new home state of Maine. My climbing history with Ben goes back to the era of the rat tail, I'm looking forward to it continuing.
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Travis BatemanEarth Treks Employee Since 1997 Archives
October 2017
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