Anita’s list of things to do frequently has the same items as my bucket list.
How awesome is that?
Today I will pop my rock climbing cherry – YAY!
This is the gang: Suzi, myself and Anita.
(This is also an awful picture but it’s the only one of us all together.)
Suzi is the sweet hero that I met in a previous visit when we went hiking Old Rag together. (Here’s that story, as well as why she is a hero, if you are so inclined to read.)
She has since gotten younger and prettier and also become a sweet little anti-gravity machine. More on that later.
We are in Earthtreks in Rockville.
I am getting a crash course in wall climbing by a very experienced Suzi and an enthusiastic (about everything actually) Anita who has also started recently.
So apparenty when you go up, someone needs to make sure you stay up.
It’s not good to come crashing down they say.
This person is called your ‘belayer’ and your life, literally, is in their hands via a rope that they hold that is tied to your butt.
There is a way to say things too.
‘Ohhh my gaaaawwddd!!’ isn’t amongst them so I broke a few rules there.
This place is HUGE!
And very, very high.
You first need to rent equipment, which means your feet will be squished into ‘the-squeezier-the-better’ type climbing shoes (which look like the offspring of socks and sports shoes) and you get a whole load of straps all around you.
Then you need to find a beginners level wall to climb.
The numbers depict the level of difficulty and you can only hold or step on the same color all the way up… unless you don’t know about this rule and just cheat all the way up like I did.
My first attempt.
I had forgotten that I am actually a little afraid of heights.
I got halfway up and freaked out a little.
Some people call it ambition, some determination, they love to PUSH themselves, to get there, to achieve victory with blood, sweat and tears!!
Not me though, I’m never embarrassed to climb right back down, even if the 8 year olds nearby point fingers and laugh.
What bliss it is to not have the ‘but what will people say?’ bone…
Anita says that belaying is the most important part of climbing.
Suzi is teaching her the ropes, literally.
Our Suzi keeps going up the really difficult ones.
She does this crazy thing where she steps on air to go up – really!
She swishes her foot on the wall and pushes up through some strange anti-gravity move that the rest of humankind has just not been able to figure out just yet (except for Jackie Chan).
It’s really awesome to watch.
This I think is the best bit – floating down.
My fearless warrior Anita conquering new heights.
Not only is she good at pushing herself, she actually always enjoys the ride!
I always thought we needed to walk our way down assisted by gravity.
Apparently not.
When coming down you need to make sure you are away from the wall.
You need to gently push yourself away with your feet in case the wall creeps up on you.
And you need to just let go and gently float downwards.
It’s my turn.
It hits me – I simply can’t fall.
I have safety ropes.
They will ensure I float.
My belayer is awesome.
We’re all good.
How everything changes when you believe you can fly!
It took a while for everything to sink in but I think that was about the moment that I fell in love with this wall climbing business.
TIP: I didn’t quite know how to shift myself at one point and was too high up to ask the girls.
Something told me to close my eyes and feel my body and balance so I could rise, so I closed my eyes and it worked!!
Suzi told me later that this was actually a trick they also used when climbing – to close your eyes to feel how your weight is distributed around your body and decide on your next step.
Thank you higher self – love it when I can hear you!
Anita and my life in her hands.
Super comfortable with this.
Wonder how people with control issues can actually climb?? Hmmm…
