For years we have heard of the tenacity needed to be a rock climber from one of my brothers who has been an avid rock climber for years, traveling around the U.S. with his boy scout troop sampling the many different surfaces of rock terrain. He explained to us that not only was the sport challenging but also costly. Due to the dangerous situations one can get into while scaling a wall of rock it is essential to purchase good gear. The shoes alone start at $75, his were much higher. None of us have the money to purchase such expensive gear.
Still this was something Sue had been talking about for at least ten years so Mary and I were determined to make her dream come true. I began my research on the Internet and found there are hundreds of rock climbing gyms located around the states. Even better, I found one located in Springfield, Missouri, just a short hour drive from Sue's home. I called the gym and talked to a very nice young man who was friendly, knowledgeable and anxious to help. Just what three middle aged novices needed.
We have a cousin, Lynette that lives in Springfield who expressed a desire to come observe our first attempts. By the time we all met she had worked up the courage to climb with us. Perfect! It takes a team of two to rock climb, one person climbs while the other (the belayer) holds the rope taunt. We now had two teams.
A young man perhaps 20 years young took our money, gave us our gear and told us he would spend the next 45 minutes or more teaching us how to use the climbing gear, safety techniques and get us climbing the easiest wall. The wall was 15 to 20 foot tall with hard plastic objects scattered along the flat surface for hand and foot holds. This was only one of the half dozen or so climbing walls in the large building but we were beginners and did not tackle any of the other walls.
We listened intently to our young friend's instructions and then excitedly geared up for our own challenge, the wall. Sue and Lynette were the first team to climb. Sue was the belayer and Lynette the climber. They were both awesome. Lynn was about half way up and with a shaky voice yelled down, "Did I forget to tell you I am afraid of heights?" I knew she was but she overcame her fear with real bravado. Coming down was the fun part. She leaned way back and simply walked down the wall. When she reached the floor the room erupted in a cheer and we quickly prepared Sue for her climb. Sue was a natural. She looked like a monkey climbing that wall. She didn't seem to have any fear at all and she even jumped around on the wall while descending. I was very proud of her. Next came Mary who also did very well.
Sadly I did not fair as well. I started off great until I let the Whattheheckamithinking monster take over reasoning power. Three years ago I broke my left wrist roller skating. Not just broke, shattered. I struggle with fears of injuring that wrist further. While hanging on to the wall the monster told me my wrist was not strong enough to hold me if I were to slip and fall. Once again I listened to Monster Fear who told me not to bother, just give up. Realistically that should not have been a concern. The rope would have caught me, not my wrist. I did not go up near as far as the other three and when they went up again, I did not follow suit. While I was changing clothes I thought about this and started thinking of different routes I could have used and my confidence started returning again. I felt like Sidi in the book the Ya Ya Sisterhood when she did not go flying with her brother, sister and friends and later cried because she hadn't gone.
This was such an awe inspiring adventure. When we first discussed learning to rock climb we said we may never do it again but at least we tried. Now we know we will do it again and next time I will have my head on straight and not worry about what could happen. Just enjoy the thrill of the whole experience.
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