You know what Jams my Cams?   My real job.

Now don’t go reading that the wrong way, I actually like my job.  Sure, it is hard, the schedule is weird, and at the end of a usual day I am exhausted, but it has it’s upsides too.  The reason I bring it up is because I think that all of us who love this sport, but are not professionals in the field (this includes climbers, writers, photographers, gear tinkers, etc.), are continuously looking for ways to skip work to go climbing, especially when the weather is nice.  Our jobs get in the way of our passion to climb and to share that passion with others.

I work 60+ hours a week for my main job as General Manager for Ultimate Watersports five months out of the year (May through September) and a standard 40-hour week the rest of the year.  Weekends are our busy time so I lose the chance to help out where I want to with Mid Atlantic Climbers, The Access Fund, and American Alpine Club through those summer months as well as January and February for Ski and Snowboard Camp.  In addition to that job, I am also a personal trainer for another 10 hours a week.  Oh, how I envy the regular 9-to-5 schedule just to keep some consistency.  The other major writer for this blog, Justin Meserve, is busy as a first-time homeowner, an hour-plus commute each way to a regular work day, and somehow sneaking time in to project some of the hardest lines in Maryland and Pennsylvania (yes, we have some double digit boulders).  Our third member, Dane Meserve, started a new job last fall for Harford County Executive Barry Glassman and that has led to a far more binding contract than he initially hoped.  I write this not as an excuse, I know we all have busy lives and I can respect that some of yours may be even busier than ours, but I write to explain why we started so strong and then fell off the face of the internet.

For us here at Crank Climbing, we started this blog, our regular Facebook shares, plans to attend and even hold our own events with one intention; to inspire and educate as many people as possible.  We are not here to make money or replace our jobs, but sometimes they do get in the way, as they have for the last month.  Let this serve as an apology to anyone that was a weekly reader and I hope we don’t have to go through the long process of catch up on my precious couple days off (fortunately, it rained so I didn’t miss the chance to going climbing).  There will be a post each day for the next week to make up for all the ones missed over the last month and we hope to keep our schedule going, even through this busy season.

-Tylor Streett, Director

How has your real world job gotten in the way of your passion(s)?  Let us know in the comments!  This is your chance to blow off some steam.