I met Marco two short years ago in a parking lot, part of a group of four strangers who were meeting each other for the first time and sharing the experience of climbing at the Gunks in New York. Though we didn't end up climbing together that day, on the short walk to the cliff before we partnered up and split off, I could tell he was a genuine  and friendly fellow . It wasn't long after this brief introduction that we met up and started climbing together.

And that's how I got to know Marco. Walks to the cliff were easy-going but filled with questions. These questions showed an intense curiousity which I never noticed wane. Hunting, trees, ecology, music, birds, politics, etc etc. Marco was always tinkering away at some bigger picture, I think, each answer just adding another facet to his world at large. He was in many ways one of the most intelligent people I have gotten to know. His perspecitives were always keen and ,often, damn amusing- I think we both appreciated the absurd nature of life. Luckily we developed a friendship outside of climbing which I enjoyed greatly. 

But what really stood out for me, what impacted me most about Marco, was the confidence. Not a wild or bragging confidence, but a quiet and relaxed assurance that everything would work out. It was that characteristic confidence that helped me push to levels within myself I had held back. 

It is hard to describe how he passed this confidence along. Maybe it was the fact, I just didn't think Marco would judge anyone poorly, so "you might as well try." However he managed it, Marco got me climbing things I didn't think I could, but when he said I could, I believed him. 

And so it came to pass Marco belayed me on my first lead climb. There had been no plans for it to happen, but he just handed me all the gear and said, "Ready to lead?" Just that little nudge, was all it took. That to me is everything. It was something I had been hoping to do, and he knew that, and he wanted to see me attain that goal. I led the climb, and more from there; Marco always pushing me to challenge myself. 

And he always will. That confidence he instilled in me, that sense of adventure, that sense of "go for it", that, to me, was Marco. He will be there pushing me, that extra nudge, just when I need it. Thank you for that, Marco. I am forever in your debt.