Xtreme climbing for an un-Xtreme girl

I know none of you climbing types will be impressed by the recounting my adventures on a 5.7 crack, but indulge me, ok? I’ve only been climbing twice and the last time was nearly two years ago so what may seem an effete sissy boy climb for some is pretty cruxy for me. Xtreme is all a matter of perspective.

Until yesterday, my climbing experience=a day at the Slips and a day at Dogwood with the novice group at Climb for Life. It’s not that I don’t like climbing, but it’s hard to convince experienced climbers to take on a novice, so I just stick to backpacking and road running (and pretty happily, I might add). But I’m always up for the adventure (and perhaps the embarrassment) so I was excited—and a little apprehensive--for the proposed ascent up Beckey’s Wall. Erin and Bobby arrived before me and Will, so they were already up the first pitch. That meant that I was belaying Will. He’s either really trusting or very confident in his climbing skills—I’m guessing the latter. Of course, as soon as I started up, it started raining and the wind started blowing. I was a bit iffy about the whole thing and I was crying from the dust in my eyes (I promise, it was the dust!) but I kept at it.

Since my previous climbing experiences were with other novices, I was used to climbing with lots of verbal encouragement. As I started up the second pitch, I could hear everyone talking above me, but no one was talking to me. I yelled at them, telling them I needed some company and everyone responded with the appropriate climbing affirmations. I think I’m more of a beginner than the climb demands, but with a lot of cursing, I made it up (with horrible technique and the bruised knees to prove it).





Thank goodness Will is such a sensitive, pink-shirt wearing guy, as he made me feel far less incompetent than I actually was.



After the climb, Erin and Bobby graciously filled us up with burritos and brownies and we watched Return2Sender, which provided me with lots of tips for crack climbing. I even learned that I don’t need positive reinforcement from anyone but myself: “Come on Didier, come on.”