Interests
Even if you are not interested in hiring a freelance writer, contact Curt to talk about climbing or caving (or hiking and skiing, for that matter). He always has time to kick back and talk routes, epics, and plans for next season.
CAVING: Curt served as Executive Vice President of the National Speleological (www.caves.org) from 2013-2018. His NSS membership number is 22735RCL(FE). He was inducted as a Fellow of the NSS, June 2018, a lifetime honor.
He is an honorary life member and has held all of the major offices of The Cleveland Grotto of the NSS. Curt is known for his expertise in speleology. He is co-editor, with Dean Wiseman, of the 272-page, go-to book for new cavers titled CAVING BASICS. Curt teamed with Chad Waffen on the newest addition to the Spelean History series (#102), HISTORIC CAVES OF THE LAKE ERIE ISLANDS. Earlier, he completed #84 in that series titled HISTORIC CAVES OF THE CUYAHOGA VALLEY. Both are available for $10 as a donation to the Cleveland Grotto Science Fund. He is the author of THE CAVING HANDBOOK for the Cleveland caving club. Copies are available by mail for US $15 including postage. He is one of the authors whose work appeared frequently in the NSS's popular SPELEO DIGEST.
CLIMBING: Curt has been an active rock and mountain climber for four decades and has worked as a part-time climbing instructor and guide during the earlier part of that period. He is a charter member of the Pennsylvania Mountaineering Association and wrote the seminal guidebook to the Commonwealth, CLIMB PENNSYLVANIA (the second edition just sold out). For years, he wrote the second oldest column carried in ON THE ROCKS, PMA's newsletter (the events calendar is the oldest). Curt has climbed all over the United States -- summiting 49 of 50 state highpoints -- and has climbed in Australia, South America, Africa and Europe. The Karakoram is on his "to do" list.
HIKING AND SKIING: Curt has hiked sizable chunks of the Appalachian Trail, many of the other better-known trails on the East Coast, and some obscure ones, too. Winter months find him chilling out on his XC-skis (it snows a lot in Cleveland), with regular departures from the back deck of his home. Now you know why so little "real" work gets done!
TENNIS: Curt is a member of USTA (US Tennis Association) and plays weekly...and, his partners will say, weakly.