She Knows I’ll Never Eat Her

I met Fletcher eleven years ago in Moab, when I was living in my friend Lisa’s driveway.

She actually belonged to Skuter, who was Lisa’s roommate, and had been rescued from the Navajo reservation in Arizona by a traveling climber who had deposited her at Lisa’s house for safekeeping. Skuter (a.k.a Scott) was a construction worker, and encouraged me to take Fletch along for exercise when I went running or climbing at Indian Creek. Next thing I knew, I was in love with the little thing. When he left the country for parts unknown, with an unspecified return date, I found myself taking her into my home, I mean, my truck.

Fletchmama and I adore each other beyond belief. She is thirteen, and starting to have trouble with arthritis, which is heartbreaking. But we are a team. I’m sure there are many factors involved in our deep bond, such as the fact that I wait on her hand and foot, but I feel that Fletch is fully aware that I will never eat her. Which in my opinion, is significant.

I want to be extremely specific on this. I did not turn vegan, initially, for philosophical reasons (although I feel them now). And I am not fully, truly vegan, because I put organic half-and-half (from Organic Valley, who have convinced me that they are kind to their cows) in my coffee. Other than that, I eat no animal products and avoid leather, and have done this for the past five years. I have found that being vegan has made a huge impact on my athletic performance and my spiritual health.

About six years ago, I started thinking hard about food and sports. I noticed that if I put unleaded, purple gasoline in an MSR stove (they didn’t use to have good fuel available in Patagonia), it would burn. But it would burn terribly, with low unsteady heat and tons of awful carbon deposits that had to be cleaned after each use. If I used white gas, the stove burned perfectly, using less fuel to make a hot, clean flame. Why should my body be any different? I realized that if I could figure out the right fuel to give my body, it would work even better. So I started systematically experimenting with diets. I gave each one three months, and paid attention to my climbing performance. I tried the Zone diet, the Blood Type diet, the Atkins diet, the low-fat diet. Along the way, I quit eating refined sugar and corn syrup, which seemed like an obvious improvement for any eating system (and did result in consistent energy levels and weight loss). The one thing I was sure would not be productive was the vegan diet. All the climbers I know had always insisted that climbers need animal protein for peak performance, especially alpinists and endurance climbers.

Weirdly enough, after trying all these eating systems and not experiencing any consistent performance increase, I decided to go on a cleansing fast. After a week of doing the fast, I had to start eating again. I felt very finicky and uninterested in food, and after about two weeks of eating fussily, I noticed “oh my goodness, I think I’m vegan!!” I decided to just go with it. After three weeks, I noticed weight loss, better energy levels, and a dramatic increase in climbing performance.

Over the next few years, I had a major improvement in climbing, running, yoga, alpine climbing, skiing, and overall health. I freed El Cap in a day, freed the Salathe Wall, climbed Torre Egger in a day, and free soloed the Diamond. And as time went by, I grew conscious of a deep respect for all life, and to believe it is wrong to kill and torture animals (which is what happens in mass factory farming production). Fletcher is one of the most important beings in my life. Why should I kill or torture other living beings, just because I can and because it is widely accepted in my culture? Surely it’s better to bring good things to others, and try to help them stay happy and fulfilled in their natural lives, whether human or animal.

Dean is now trying to become vegan too….