The Firn Line

You know that saying - “they just don’t make em’ the way they used to”.  I guess you could call it a quintessential American expression.  In the climbing world, It conjures up icons like Lynn Hill, Jim Bridwell, Catherine Freer, and Royal Robbins - just to name a few.You know you have someone like that in your life.  It’s someone who’s tough.  They have a determination and resolve that’s made of granite.  There’s something about them - maybe you can’t quite put it into words - but they just have an aura or presence around them - that’s larger than life.  When you meet these people, they leave an indelible mark on you.  And that’s exactly how I felt this last spring, after spending a few days with a guy named Daryl Miller.  If you spent any time climbing on or around Denali back in the 1990's and early 2000’s - surely you came across Daryl - or at the very least, you knew who he was.  Back then, Daryl was the Chief Climbing Ranger on Denali - and even then, he was larger than life.  His aura was equal parts mi