Everything you need to know about falling, but were afraid to ask. Falling is the opposite of climbing, which can explain why we apply every membrane between our ears toward getting up the rock, but dedicate precious little to hurtling down it.

Sammy and I hunkered into the shade beneath the Weeping Wall, Suicide Rock, panting between pulls on a gallon jug of water. The sun had just crawled over Tahquitz Rock, a mile across the Sunshine Valley, and heat waves welled off the Suicide slabs. No big.

Over four days in May 2012, around 250 Westerners and 270 Sherpas and Tibetans summited Mount Everest. For many, attaining the highest point on Earth was the culmination of endless training, personal sacrifices and hard work to achieve a meaningful and fulfilling lifelong dream.

The kid who soloed BOHICA.

That Charlie Fowler would meet his end while doing what he loved is no huge surprise given the sheer volume of his climbing. At age 52, he'd racked up three and a half decades of it, and had carried his quiet air of a seasoned survivor from hard rock to the high-risk games of alpine climbing and soloing.

The key to trad climbing is the same thing that's necessary for success in any bold endeavor: balls.

I got my balls, or more precisely, Ball Nuts, in 1992, and have used them on almost every gear route since.