Some people find themselves in therapy. I find myself at 5,364 meters above sea level, lungs drafting their resignation, wind being personally rude, wondering if my dogs have taken over the bed yet.

Spoiler: they have.

I’m Niskie — sometimes Maria, depending on how deep into an adventure we are. I collect experiences the way other people collect excuses not to: summits, concert floors, side streets with no signal, meals that need no translation, conversations that accidentally become the whole night.

This is Finding Maria — a life lived slightly louder than planned. Some posts are about the climb. Some are about the ordinary Tuesday that turned out to matter more than the climb did. Same person writing both.
It started as a place for my adventures to live. Turns out, it’s also where I found Maria. Stick around — she’s still being found.