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          • Blind Ambition Builds a World Class Climber: The Story of Jesse Dufton
          • Climbing with Type 1 Diabetes
          • First Paralyzed Ascents: Rand Abbott
          • Mixed Climbing: My Answer to KT Syndrome
          • Paraclimbing Competitions: Althlete Interviews
          • Rock!
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        • Belaytionships Edition >
          • Featured Photographer: Charlie OlGrady-Kessner
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          • I Am My Father's Son: Layton Bridwell
          • Book Review: Uncoiling the Ropes
          • Zac the Interloper
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          • Book Review: Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss
          • Featured Photographer: Matt Spohn
          • Grading Commitment
          • Hanging with the Monkeys, and Getting the Monkey Off My Back
          • It Was His Time: Brad Gobright Interview May 2019
          • John Middendorf : A Big Man for a Big Stone
          • Sébastien Berthe Free Climbs the Nose From the Ground Up
          • Shit Happens – Or, Why You Need a Walkie Talkie
        • Developers and Guidebook Authors >
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          • Kevin Powell
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        • Exploring Our World >
          • AUSTRALIA - Photographer - Diego Perez
          • AUSTRALIA - Profile - Julie Anderson
          • Book Review - Climbing Rock
          • CHINA - From Yangshuo, to Getu, to Liming
          • FRANCE - Verdon in Winter
          • GREECE - Meteora
          • ITALY - Dolomites
          • MEXICO - La Huasteca
          • SPAIN - Artist - Karmelo Onate
          • UTAH - Maple Canyon: This One Makes You Taller
        • Honoring Diversity >
          • ARTIST: Shawn Lee
          • A Shift on Moonlight Buttress
          • Claiming a Space on the Mountain
          • Colorblind
          • Feature Photographer: Bryan Sillorequez
          • Is Diversity in America Diverse?
          • MOVIE: People of Climbing:
          • Profile - Favia Dubyk
          • The Lineage
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          • Profile - Megan Banker
          • Profile - Shawn Axelrod
          • Rock Type 1
          • The Tape Job
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        • Resources - Adaptive Climbing
      • Alpine & Ice >
        • California Still Has Untouched Climbing Wilderness
        • Ice Solo
        • Mt. Ogden Spanking
        • Mt. Whitney Whipping
        • My Common Alpine Epic
      • CC Profile >
        • Profile - Shawn Axelrod
        • Profile - Megan Banker
        • Profile - Favia Dubyk
        • Profile - Debbie Fowler
        • Profile - Lindsey Hamm
        • Profile - Sabine Pratt Hunziker
        • PROFILE - Marisa Michael - Nutrition for Climbers
        • Profile - Caitlin Schokker
        • Profile - Louise Shepherd
      • CoVID and Climbing >
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        • Dear Memory
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        • How to Climb and Avoid the Corona Virus
        • Train the Mind: Mental Toughness Tips for Quaratraining
        • The 5.10 Commandments
        • Trying to Send this Route
      • Equipment (writings) >
        • A Rack Retrospective
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        • Carabiner Strength Ratings
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        • The One Item to Stockpile
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        • Why GriGris Suck
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      • Facebook Feature >
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        • Top 10: Increase the Climbing Grade When...
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        • 18 Climber Types: Which Are You?
      • Kids >
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        • A Climb Worth Fighting For
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        • Fear, Pride, and Exploration
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          • 20 World Destinations for Adventurous Climbing
        • 2020 U.S. Rock Climbing Festivals
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  • Photographers & Artists
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Mixed Climbing: My Answer to KT Syndrome

By Matt Westlake
​21 years ago, at the age of 7, I was diagnosed with Klippel Trenaunay (KT) Syndrome - a rare disease that causes my veins to grow uncontrollably like cracks through a shattered window. Blood begins to pool, which causes poor circulation, blood clots, and lymphedema, along with a string of many other health issues.

Fortunately; and oddly enough, KT only affects one limb of the body. 1 in 500,000 people are born with KT; making this my closest opportunity at being 1 in a million at anything.

I found climbing 6 years ago. I began by watching YouTube clips and I also constructed a 6x10 bouldering shed in the middle of my parent's driveway. I had lots of time while awaiting insurance coverage for an operation that would unknowingly change my trajectory in life.
Picture
Matt's current training wall in his cellar - a step up from the driveway bouldering shed.
​
​In 2015, my doctor's at Boston Children's Hospital performed a new and delicate procedure: Injecting liquid nitrogen into the veins closest to my nerve endings. This procedure could have gone one of two ways. The first: I would have substantially less pain and be able to move long and faster. The second: I would lose some dead weight (my entire leg) immediately.


I awoke to doctors standing over me.

I crimped the edges of the bed.

Highlighted by blinding lights strung above. I could feel the dull end of the pencil gliding up and down my leg. My toe's wiggled. I smiled. The air in the room seemed lighter.

That night, while laying in recovery, I watched "Valley Uprising" - one of the films I had collected in the months leading up to the operation. I had a twenty-four-hour nerve block in place and a morphine drip for breakthrough pain. I didn't touch the drip pump. A red button seemed like an easy way out of suffering.

I never did like anything easy. I thought if I could get through this struggle then, maybe one day, my inner Warren Harding would get me through the worst of any unplanned bivys.
Picture
Matt in the Bugaboos, Canada. Photo Credit: Tyler Shelson

The next afternoon I was released: 24 hours earlier than my expected release time. I was sitting upright on the edge of my hospital bed. Feet dangling and swaying freely. When they asked how I felt, I remember saying, “I feel less pain than I ever have”.


To show it true; when leaving I pushed my wheelchair out of the hospital. This was my game changer.

I returned to Windsor, Ontario, my home for the first 24 years of my life. By the end of the first week, I was climbing at our local wall. Spending my nights in my cave learning and increasing range of motion in my left leg. I could put intense pressure on my left foot and not have it buckle under me. Reaching high while on my left leg no longer felt nearly as gambly as it once had.

I moved west to Canmore, Alberta nearly 4 months after the operation. I traded my 2014 Ford Escape for an 1987 GMC Panel Van. Yeah.. I like to thinking looking back on it now that I certainly got the better end of that trade. I gutted it, insulated it, then moved in. I had my photography gear, a poster of the Dawn Wall on my ceiling and not much else. Just the essentials.

It didn’t take me long to realize that there were some things that weren’t going to work for me while climbing. Also, if I was going to do it long term I’d need a plan for sustainability. The night before big climbs I’d take naproxen to help decrease pain from swelling. Blood thinners to increase blood flow. Following that, an extra hot bath. To finish, elevate the leg and wrap in heating pad. Lately, I’ve been playing around with some homemade prototypes for a one-leg harness. I’m getting close.

​The leg loop on my left leg digs into my veins like a ziptie. This is also where a cluster of veins & previous blood clots lay. It’s hellish on long days, giving your buddy a catch or after a fall. This is why I tend to ice climb more so than projecting sport routes. In ice climbing there is no falling. Your partner is not weighting the rope constantly, or if he is then maybe you should just head down anyway.
Picture
Matt was one of nine Canadians men and women in the 2019 UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup. Matt competed in both the lead and speed categories. Photo Credit: Grant Westlake
Picture
Matt on Coire Dubh, Alberta, Canada. Photo Credit: Tyler Shelson

​I keep one full rack on my right hip. I try to keep my left side clean. The weight really ramps up the suffer dial. I wear my slings (10) and keep 3 standard draws on my left side.

On the safety side of things, I keep a quick clot in the lid of my pack alongside a tourniquet in case my leg were to get cut or punctured. I also climb with a kevlar sock on my leg. It’s extra mental protection for keeping a crampon from slicing a vein - what a bloody mess that would be….
Picture
Matt at Haffner Creek, Banff, Alberta, Canada. Photo Credit: Jyoti Venne

When I first got into mix climbing I quickly discovered my body was somewhat made for it. All those year’s using a wheelchair had developed the muscle groups necessary - my shoulders, back, forearms, and core. All from gripping and self-propelling myself. I was crafty in a chair. Once I wheelied around my block. Steep stuff was even better.


After a few years in in mixed climbing, I’m having conflicting thoughts of ethics on figure 4’s versus the French DTS "pure dry tooling." style (where a climber cannot use figure 4 or figure 9 techniques.) Figure 4’s allow me to hang entirely on my right leg. Leaving my left leg floating weightlessly relaxing before it’s abused again. It’s all an interesting routine. At the end of the day, that’s just what it is for me.

​Human Beings are far more adaptable than we imagine them to be. No matter how many times it’s proven. It all starts with our state of mind. It has the potential to be our greatest limiter. But when understood & respected it can carry us any distance & conquer any mountain.  ​
Picture
Matt in Joshua Tree, CA, Photo Credit: Joshua tree - Tyler Shelson

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© COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK, COMMON CLIMBER, 2016-2021  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Writing
    • All Writings (List)
    • Editions >
      • Themed Editions >
        • Adaptive Climbing Edition >
          • Adaptive Climbing Photo Feature: Paradox Sports
          • Advocating for Deaf Climbers: Sonya Wilson
          • Amputations: Leg Prosthesis for Climbing
          • Blind Ambition Builds a World Class Climber: The Story of Jesse Dufton
          • Climbing with Type 1 Diabetes
          • First Paralyzed Ascents: Rand Abbott
          • Mixed Climbing: My Answer to KT Syndrome
          • Paraclimbing Competitions: Althlete Interviews
          • Rock!
          • The Unreasonable Man
        • Belaytionships Edition >
          • Featured Photographer: Charlie OlGrady-Kessner
          • Belaytionships: Drew-and-Sarah
          • Belaytionships: Jeantique and Natalie
          • Belaytionships: Maggie and Charlie Odette
          • I Am My Father's Son: Layton Bridwell
          • Book Review: Uncoiling the Ropes
          • Zac the Interloper
        • Big Wall Edition >
          • Book Review: Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss
          • Featured Photographer: Matt Spohn
          • Grading Commitment
          • Hanging with the Monkeys, and Getting the Monkey Off My Back
          • It Was His Time: Brad Gobright Interview May 2019
          • John Middendorf : A Big Man for a Big Stone
          • Sébastien Berthe Free Climbs the Nose From the Ground Up
          • Shit Happens – Or, Why You Need a Walkie Talkie
        • Developers and Guidebook Authors >
          • Developer - Mitch Lehman
          • Andrew Penny - A Blue Mountaineer
          • Kevin Powell
          • Rock Star Groupie
          • Tony Calderone
        • Exploring Our World >
          • AUSTRALIA - Photographer - Diego Perez
          • AUSTRALIA - Profile - Julie Anderson
          • Book Review - Climbing Rock
          • CHINA - From Yangshuo, to Getu, to Liming
          • FRANCE - Verdon in Winter
          • GREECE - Meteora
          • ITALY - Dolomites
          • MEXICO - La Huasteca
          • SPAIN - Artist - Karmelo Onate
          • UTAH - Maple Canyon: This One Makes You Taller
        • Honoring Diversity >
          • ARTIST: Shawn Lee
          • A Shift on Moonlight Buttress
          • Claiming a Space on the Mountain
          • Colorblind
          • Feature Photographer: Bryan Sillorequez
          • Is Diversity in America Diverse?
          • MOVIE: People of Climbing:
          • Profile - Favia Dubyk
          • The Lineage
        • Joshua Tree >
          • Bouldering: JTree Made Me Do It
          • Improv at JTree: Bad Bolts
          • JTree: Bolting Pressure Cooker
          • Joshua Tree: Heinous Approaches
        • Overcoming Boundaries >
          • Photographer - Brook Anderson
          • Profile - Louise Shepherd
          • Profile - Megan Banker
          • Profile - Shawn Axelrod
          • Rock Type 1
          • The Tape Job
        • Women's Edition >
          • Editorial - Women's Edition
          • Climbing is My Art
          • Mt. Logan Solo
          • Photographer - Michelle Ranee Johnson
          • Profile - Caitlin Schokker
      • Non-Themed Editions >
        • April 2020
        • May 2020
        • June 2020
        • August 2020 >
          • Online Auction
          • Editorial August 2020
        • September 2020
        • October 2020
        • November 2020
        • December 2020 >
          • Anthology 2020 Sponsors
        • January 2021
    • Topics >
      • Adaptive Climbing >
        • Adaptive Climbing Edition
        • El Capitan: Enock Glidden
        • Quinn Brett Interview
        • My Journey to Adaptive Rock Climbing
        • Planning for Mt. Rainier: Adaptive Climbing
        • Resources - Adaptive Climbing
      • Alpine & Ice >
        • California Still Has Untouched Climbing Wilderness
        • Ice Solo
        • Mt. Ogden Spanking
        • Mt. Whitney Whipping
        • My Common Alpine Epic
      • CC Profile >
        • Profile - Shawn Axelrod
        • Profile - Megan Banker
        • Profile - Favia Dubyk
        • Profile - Debbie Fowler
        • Profile - Lindsey Hamm
        • Profile - Sabine Pratt Hunziker
        • PROFILE - Marisa Michael - Nutrition for Climbers
        • Profile - Caitlin Schokker
        • Profile - Louise Shepherd
      • CoVID and Climbing >
        • COVID Climbing Memes
        • CoVID-19 Remakes Our Lives
        • Dear Memory
        • From Couch to Lifting Couches
        • How to Climb and Avoid the Corona Virus
        • Train the Mind: Mental Toughness Tips for Quaratraining
        • The 5.10 Commandments
        • Trying to Send this Route
      • Equipment (writings) >
        • A Rack Retrospective
        • Cam Ranges (+ Big Bros)
        • Carabiner Strength Ratings
        • Climbing Shoes Fit
        • Guide Book Follies
        • Rope Buying 101
        • Shit Happens – Or, Why You Need a Walkie Talkie
        • The One Item to Stockpile
        • Which Way Should I Carry My Trad Rack?
        • Why GriGris Suck
        • 8 Reasons I Carry a Full Rack on Every Trad Climb
      • Facebook Feature >
        • FF: Big Walls
        • FF: Butt Shots
        • FF: Exploring Our World
        • FF: Overcoming Boundaries
        • FF: Trees & Climbing
        • FF: Welcome New Climbers
      • Grades, Styles, & Types >
        • Bouldering-Falling
        • Bouldering Grade Advancements
        • Grading Climbs at the Gym
        • It's a F-ing Chimney
        • Onsight vs Flash vs Etc...
        • Top 10: Increase the Climbing Grade When...
        • Trad Climbing is for Chicken Sh*#s
        • WTF 5.7?
        • 18 Climber Types: Which Are You?
      • Kids >
        • Family Stages
        • The Guidebook
      • Legends >
        • B - Joe Brown
        • G - Brad Gobright
        • G - Todd Gordon
        • H - Hugh Herr
        • H - Thomas Huber - In Another World - A Personal Climbing Journey
        • J - Saxon Johns
        • M - Tim Macartney-Snape: ​A Legend from Sea to Summit
        • M - John Middendorf
      • Mental-Physical >
        • Climbing Training Series >
          • Improving Hip Mobility
          • Rock Climber Mobility
          • Train the Mind: Mental Toughness Tips for Quaratraining
        • A Climb Worth Fighting For
        • Achilles
        • Everyone Around Me Is Better Than I Am
        • Fear, Pride, and Exploration
        • How Auto-Immune Disease Affected My Climbing
        • Mastering Joy on Easy Street
        • Mind, Body, and Soul
        • New Year's Resolutions
        • Of Cartoons and Quickdraws
        • Push and Pull
        • Sorcerer and the Kidney Stone
        • Take Risks - You'll Remember Them Later
        • The Art of Climbing Without Rock
        • The Devil's Game
        • The Taste of Climbing
        • 12-Weeks to Onsighting a 5.8
      • Other/Misc >
        • Assault on Schurman Rock
        • Book Club
        • Climbing, Community, and the U.S. Presidential Election
        • Climbing Drinking Games
        • Climbing Gyms: The Gateway Drug
        • Climbing Hands
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        • Climbing Resolutions
        • Demented Dirtbag
        • Don't Take Granite for Granite
        • Dorothy, We Aren't on Havana Anymore
        • Guatemalan Worry Dolls Go Climbing
        • No Health Insurance Changed How I Climb
        • Snakes and Ladders
        • Starting Over
        • The Adventure of A Lifetime - So Far
        • The Bane of Northwest Climbing
        • The Pink Tricam
        • Things of Stone and Wood
        • Zac the Interloper
      • Places & Climbs >
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          • Flakes and Shakes: Flake Crack Revisited
          • From Yorkshire to Eternity
          • Tombstone Territory
          • Yosemite - What We Came For
        • Location Reviews
        • My Home Crag >
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          • My Home Crag: Nowra, NSW, Australia
        • Travel Stories >
          • Blue Mountains - Bliss: Climbing in the Blueys
          • Buenos Aires, Argentina Crag
          • Colorado - Calling Pat Ament
          • Coolum Cave - Sendfest 8
          • Ecuador - A Nation of Four Worlds
          • El Potrero Chico - Riding the Dirty Dog
          • Yosemite: Growing Up
          • Lover's Leap - Zone of Craptitude
          • Rio de Janeiro - Classic Climbs Sampler
          • Taghia, Morocco - Hardly Failing
          • Tasmania - Legend of the ‘Unclimbable Cliff’
          • Thailand - Lost and Found: A Mini-Epic in Paradise
          • Vedauwoo, WY
          • Yosemite - What We Came For
          • 20 World Destinations for Adventurous Climbing
        • 2020 U.S. Rock Climbing Festivals
      • Poetry/Prose >
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        • Sojourn at Dyuritte
        • Finding Poetry
        • Ice is Nice
        • The Space Between
      • Safety and Skills >
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        • Euro-Death Knot is NOT
        • Multi-Pitch Tips: Two ATCs
        • Sketchy Anchor Bolts
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        • Three Ways to Use a Stick Clip
        • Top 10: Climbing Best Practices
      • Science Fiction >
        • Red Curtain: Prologue
      • Social, Social Media, & Social Issues >
        • Chossy Trio Renegades
        • Climbing into the Fold
        • Diversity in Climbing is Not a Bandwagon
        • Fuck "Gumbies" and "Noobs"
        • Montana, My Home: Claire Larson
        • My Husband Climbs Stronger than Me
        • Navajo Rising
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  • Reviews
    • Books >
      • Advanced Rock Climbing Book Review
      • Adventures at the Edge of the World
      • Climbing Rock: Vertical Explorations Across North America
      • Hangdog Days Book Review
      • Hooking Up: The Ultimate Big Wall and Climbing Guide
      • Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss
      • The Sharp End of Life: A Mother's Story - Book Review
    • Equipment/Gear Reviews >
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      • Packs and Bags >
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          • Kangaroo Point Photos and Beta
          • Kangaroo Point Review
        • New South Wales Australia >
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            • Blue Mountains Photos and Beta
            • Blue Mountains Review
          • Nowra >
            • Nowra Review >
              • Nowra Photos and Beta
      • Mexico >
        • Potrero Chico Photos and Beta
        • Potrero Chico Review
      • United States >
        • Climbing Area Check List - U.S. >
          • Climbing Area Check List Part 1: Alabama to California
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 2: Colorado to Michigan
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 3: Minnesota to New Mexico
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 4: New York to Wyoming
        • Arizona >
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            • City of Rocks Review
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            • Smith Rock - Photos and Beta
            • Smith Rock Review
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            • Spring Mountain Review
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          • Trout Creek >
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            • Trout Creek Review
        • Nevada >
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          • Red Rock Canyon >
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        • New Hampshire >
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        • New York >
          • Gunks Review
        • Utah >
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          • Ferguson Canyon >
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            • Ferguson Canyon Review
          • Ibex >
            • Ibex Photos and Beta
            • Ibex Review
          • Maple Canyon >
            • Maple Canyon, Utah Photos and Beta
            • Maple Canyon Review
          • Moab >
            • Moab - Main - Photos and Beta
            • Moab -Main - Review
          • St. George >
            • St. George - Prophesy Wall- Photos and Beta
            • St. George - Prophesy Wall - Review
        • West Virginia >
          • Seneca Rocks
        • Wyoming >
          • Ten Sleep
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