Committed: Matt McCormick
Tales of the Legendary British Climber.
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Matt McCormick is probably best known for a 35-foot, spinning fall from his trad 5.13c R, Wheelin’ and Dealin’, on the Spider’s Web, Adirondacks, New York. The sickening plummet on sketchy gear was filmed and posted online.
Maybe he should also be appreciated for his driving. For two years, McCormick, age 26, would teach school all week in Sudbury, Massachusetts, then drive two hours up to Plymouth, New Hampshire, and stay with friends Friday night. He’d rise at 3 a.m., meet his partner Josh Worley in Littleton at 4 a.m., and reach the ice of Lake Willoughby, Vermont, by 6. They’d climb all day, finish in the dark, he’d reach Plymouth at 10:30 at night, and then get up the next day and do it all over again.
“We were so committed to the Lake,