Hello From a Fellow Greek
- June 2015
- Hi Steph
Hi Steph,
I’ll try to keep this short since I know you’re probably receiving hundreds of emails like this one.My name is Angelos and I’m a Greek living in Nuremberg, Germany since last November. My main reason for moving here was for the climbing: the famous Frankenjura is nearby and the Alps are not that far either.
I started climbing relatively late, around age 25 (I’m now 31) and haven’t really progressed with the grades since then due to many things [1], but I started climbing outside and was exposed very early to multi-pitch trad climbing and fell in love with it. So all the training and sport climbing I do is to make myself more capable of operating in a higher-risk alpine environment which has been my dream ever since. Since moving here I’ve been training regularly in the gym (when my body allows it) and it’s the first time I start to see some difference in both my strength and technique.
I’ve been following your website and posts for some years now and I’ve bought an (electronic) copy of both of your books but never really got around to reading them. That changed recently after Dean’s accident where I watched a video where you were mentioned, so when going through my books after a few days to pick one to read, Learning to Fly popped out. It almost felt as if the book chose me, which is a weird thing for me to say since I don’t really believe in such things. But that’s how it felt.
There are three reasons I decided to write you. First I wanted to tell you I really appreciate all of the wisdom and experience you’ve shared about climbing and life through your blog and Facebook and to tell you I’m really enjoying the book so far. The book is so much more about flying and it has really helped me find answers to some of the same questions I had.
Second, a thing I identified a lot with in the book is your struggle to strike a balance between climbing and making ends meet. I practically grew up in computers to the exclusion of pretty much everything else until I was exposed to mountains and climbing while in college. Since then time away from climbing and the mountains (like when working in the office) seems time wasted. I’m really feeling that the only thing we’ve got is time and working in a cubicle is a really ridiculous way to waste it. So far I haven’t been able to find a decent compromise between work and the outdoors.
Third, at some point in your book you mentioned you’re half Greek which surprised me a lot. I was wondering in what way? Is your mother Greek (since your surname is Davis)? Do you speak any Greek?
Thank for your time,
Angelos
working, studying to finish my CS degree, a 9-month military service and a near-fatal accident 3 years ago while on the approach of a multi-pitch trad climb
Hi Angelos,
Thank you for writing to me, I appreciate it! My mother is Greek. Her father, Stelios Kimpretis, came from Tenedos. He changed his name to Steve Kamps and opened a restaurant in Dearborn, called the Virginia Restaurant (when he first arrived in the States, he lived in Virginia and worked in a kitchen). He was introduced to my grandmother, Athena Zaphiriou, by her parents. Her brothers, Diamond and Jim Zaphiriou also had a restaurant/bar in Dearborn called Diamond Jim’s. So my mother’s last name became Kamps, because of my grandfather changing it. My middle name is Kamps, and I am named Stephanie after him 🙂
Sadly, I don’t speak any Greek! When I was little, we lived pretty far from Greek church, and so my parents didn’t take us. I was actually mad about it, because I really wanted to go to Greek school, which as you know, is part of Greek church for kids. I always felt a little bit cheated of learning Greek early, when it’s more possible. My mom understands but can’t speak.
🙂 Steph
