Nicola Masciandaro on Outer Space, Snow Creek Canyon, 1985.

I love photo assignments, because they get you out there to take good photos. When you're out climbing, you tend to focus on the climbing and take photos as an afterthought, but on assignment, it's all about the photos. So I have George Bracksieck to thank for this one, as he agreed to make Outer Space the "Route of the Month" and I had to get some decent photos for the magazine. I enlisted Nicola Masciandaro and a third climber (who didn't appreciate his role as belay slave much, but I have to give him credit, too). I would lead up every pitch, placing as little gear as possible, then pull my rope and rappel down to photograph Nicola leading up. This photo is of the first crack pitch on the shield, and is one of my favorite photos. It just epitomizes the Outer Space experience to me: airy, a little windy, exposed climbing up cracks and knobs high above the canyon floor. It doesn't get any better.