I couldn’t wait for noon to come last Friday. I packed up my stuff, stocked up on food + snacks + beer in the biggest little city to avoid the small town madness of Truckee. I was on a mission; headed home, stuffed it all into the fridge, sun-screened up and headed for the summit.
all moments of the weekend were awesome, and each thing seemed to build on the next, but a highlight was getting to have a girl climbing experience. I have gotten to climb with girls every so often, but this day was different. the boys wanted to do their thing… so we did ours. we took turns taking laps, belaying and practicing our slab-age skills.
a little back history on my climbing experience, and Paige’s my sister-in-law who is in the picture above. I got into climbing about six years ago, and Paige shortly after that. we both started off slow, and a couple years ago I got super into the sport and started pushing myself here and there. around that time we saw Paige a little less when it came time to climb. she would come out occasional and take a lap, but didn’t see to into it. nobody wanted to push, because we all need to take our own time with things. I am happy to report that as of Friday, pretty sure we are entering a new phase on the crag!
on Friday that I had the pleasure of witnessing a shift in Paige. she was stoked to be out there! it was too awesome, because she had made a joke that three was her max. she pushed through each climb, no tears ( we all have those days ), and no frustration. she was a little tried, but we pushed on as the boys set-up the last climb of the night. it had a hard edgy slab start ( a full body length ) to this awesome full fist jam over jam crack. the boys walked away, and I ran up the short pitch ( side note: I tried this climb 2 years ago and couldn’t figure it out. It felt so good to stuff-it and reach the top ), and then Paige followed. I tried to keep my mouth shut, but threw out a little beta in a few spots. I could see she was little frustrated about half way, but then she powered through. she was shifting her weight, stuff her feet in the crack to work her way up, and wasn’t stopping! she killed it! you can’t see her smile + giggles in this photo, but they are there, and they continued through our beers and into the evening.
the experience made me realize I need to push myself too. I go through phases of doing a few laps, or being satisfied with not pushing myself. I have yet to take a big fall, or hurt myself, but it’s the fear of not being able to get up something that stops me. I am competitive with myself, and the idea of completing a climb has stopped me, but not anymore.
I have tried a few harder climbs this year, and not made it to the top, so I am working through that fear, but I am done with you fear. I am gonna try hard shit, bleed, and be pissed-off, but with the intention of going back and getting to try something again, and again. It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon and I am ready to train. I have talked about leading a climb over the last couple years, ( finding a girl-partner was on the list too, but PAIGE, belay buddy we got this ) but I have never pushed myself to learn enough to make it happen, but I am holding myself to it this summer-fall. Training starts today!
