Many people prefer to defecate into pristine porcelain thrones within the comfort of a home. Others enjoy the process of digging a 6-8 inch deep cat hole to promote “proper alignment of the GI tract.” While on Mount Rainier with a dear friend and classmate Rob Balloch (‘18) during a two week post-graduation climbing trip, I found many different excretion environments and used a variety of techniques to participate in delightful defecation.

The Dolomites is a magical land of big mountains, steep faces, and exposed climbing. Textured grey and tan limestone yields climbing of an unmistakable European variety, facey and delicate, protected by pitons or small cams or not at all, and completely without hand cracks. Add in a network of huts dotting the remote alpine valleys to keep approaches civilized and meals full-service, and you get the picture: a veritable paradise of alpine rock climbing.