Standing on the summit of The Central Tower with my best friend was the greatest moment of my life.
![torres del paine patagonia climbing](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-1.png)
Descending the tower was not.
![torres del paine patagonia big wall climbing](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-2.png)
A brutal storm rolled in. We huddled inside the portaledge, waiting for an opportunity to descend.
After three days, we ran out of food and began descending anyway.
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-3.png)
After about twenty abseils, but still with a few more to go, the air above us suddenly ripped into a deafening, scraping scream.
An enormous rock was falling towards us.
There was no escape.
The event itself seemed to unfold in a silent, slow-motion blur; outstretched arms were crumpled, granite blocks exploded, pieces of our belay were plucked out of the rock, pain was temporarily hidden by shock.
We survived, somehow.
![patagonia climbing](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-4.png)
But then I saw the belay.
All of our haulbags, all of our equipment, my life and the life of my best friend were dangling solely from a single strand of frayed cord, the thickness and strength of a shoelace, which was wrapped around an ancient, rusty piton.
Our lives were literally hanging by a thread.
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-5.png)
The adrenaline began to subside. Intense pain roared through my veins.
I tried to speak but the fuzzy onset of unconsciousness had frozen my voice into a hard lump of wordless desperation in my throat.
The rest of the descent is a distant blur in my memory. Always the strongest member of the team, Callum ensured we got down.
Back on the rubble-strewn ground, I untied from the rope and vowed to never climb again.
![Patagonia big wall climbing](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-6.png)
My memory deteriorated as the months passed by. Time began to steal the details.
How I choose a climb:
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-7.png)
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-8.png)
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-9.png)
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-10.png)
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-bad-memory/why-i-climb-big-rocks-bad-memory-11.png)
There are 3 characteristics that make a good big wall climber: A high tolerance of pain, a bad memory and ummm.... I forgot the other.
Read the full Patagonian epic story here.