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For the June 2025 Writing Contest, we asked climbers to describe the most important move of their lives in 500 words or less. Here are the top five essays that blew us away.
First Place: David Rozul
Then someone said, “Let’s unrope, it’ll be faster.” Someone else agreed. I nodded. I didn’t want to be the weak link.
Read Rozul’s essay here: The Most Important Move of My Life Was the One I Didn’t Make.
Second Place: Uyen-Phuong Nguyen
I don’t remember the color of the sunrise that morning on Rainier, only that it never touched the shadows beneath the snow bridge.
Read Nguyen’s essay here: I Took a Step Over a Crevasse. I Didn’t Expect to Find Myself on the Other Side.
Third Place: Megan Noble
There’s an ease to the atmosphere, a peace running through these hills—save for the steady simmer inside me, frustrated by my inability to follow in Riley’s footsteps.
Read Noble’s essay here: For Me, the Beta Came From Within.
Fourth Place: Eric Bates
Through blurred eyes, I tried to keep the shot in focus, thinking to myself that the three of us would remember this move for the rest of our lives.
Read Bates’s essay here: After Surviving Cancer, They Were Back on Rock. I Couldn’t Miss the Shot.
Fifth Place: Adib Rabbani
For one slippery second, I was levitating on moss and prayer. No muscle, no style—just the ghost of a miracle.
Read Rabbani’s essay here: Sometimes, the Scariest Move Is the One That Holds