That's my climbing partner, Rick Kotasek, on a climb called (for obvious reasons) High Exposure. It's rated 5.6. If you're not a rock climber, 5.6 in English means "only half insane." Rick is a Civil Engineer for the New York State Department of Transportation so he really should know better.
Rick is leading, meaning "you go first." I'm about 20 feet safely below him on a huge ledge belaying-which is some French word for "if you fall, I'll try to catch you but don't count on it." Rick asked if I wanted to lead it but I said "no thanks, you go right ahead."
Rick and I have been friends since junior high school. Every now and then we blow off some steam by conquering these cliffs. We figure if we can handle this, that mountain of paperwork back at the office will be a piece of cake.
N2XE Laboratory