Katie Mayo
Human-nature connection | Climate | Climbing
About me
You could say I’m a climate protection aficionada 🙂
In part it’s because I’m a climber, so I have seen first hand how important the human-nature connection is. Connecting more with the natural world cured my insomnia, for example.
But it’s also because I have spent my free time reading books about psychology, health, society, and nature. And they all seem to convene on the idea that things are better (on many metrics) if we collectively are more in tune with nature.
“Climb-it”
I climb because I like to get on top of things. So I boulder & trad climb and enjoy the process of wandering.
Rock climbing can seem a little ridiculous to some, but it has become more and more sacred to me over the years.
Climbing movement is beautiful. The self-knowledge born out of the struggle to send is meaningful and satisfying. The connection climbing facilitates between me and nature feels spiritual. I experience the community as supportive. And I never run out of something to learn from the rock, my partners, or the struggle.
Climate
Because of the importance of the human-nature connection in my life, I have focused my career in recent years on climate related projects.
In 2020, I evacuated from Rishikesh, India, and had been admitted to graduate school. I had only applied to appease my parents while I traveled for a year. But fate had other plans, and the global pandemic meant that I found myself, an anti-consumerist member of society, in business school.
I think that works out for the best, though, and I learned quite a bit from my courses, classmates, and professors. I would not call myself a degrowth-er, and I do not expect consumerism to evaporate overnight (or at all).
But I think we can run business and society better. And it is something I like to think and write about quite a bit. So this is my yearbook of wanders (mostly climbing related) and the wondering my frolicking has fueled (mostly climate related).
“The plants are psychic, they express it only in silence and beauty.” – Shūsaku Endō
Check out my latest posts
- The most aesthetic choss factory: Temple Crag
In August, my friend got permits for Temple crag in the Sierras and we decided to go for Sun Ribbon Arete. Before heading up there,… Read more: The most aesthetic choss factory: Temple Crag - Full value, fancy, alpine climbing in the Bugaboos
The inspo After climbing Mt. Whitney last year in a group of four, two of us hatched a plan to go even bigger this year.… Read more: Full value, fancy, alpine climbing in the Bugaboos - Mt. Emerson
“The civility of no race can be perfect whilst another race is degraded.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson Mt. Emerson is a peak on the Bishop skyline… Read more: Mt. Emerson - Entering my #vanlife era
It’s official… I’m a #vanlifer now. My time as a “real” dirtbag is done! After a year and a half living out of my CRV… Read more: Entering my #vanlife era - Dirtbagging. Living the cozy #crvlife
For the better part of the past 1 year, I’ve been living in my 2011 Honda CRV. I’m a climbing dirtbag. At the start of… Read more: Dirtbagging. Living the cozy #crvlife - The carbon footprint of an existential crisis
I was laid off earlier this year, along with 60%+ of the company, from a job I enjoyed but found chaotic. The day I was… Read more: The carbon footprint of an existential crisis - My first “epic”
The day ended with me hallucinating. Oh, and it lasted a full 24 hours. As two parties of two, we successfully summited the Grand Teton… Read more: My first “epic”