« Oil holding on for all its worth (which isn't much) | Main | Record companies are shooting themselves in the foot »

November 03, 2002

Climbing to today

I just got back from two days of climbing in Yosemite Valley. It was my first time in the valley and I was lucky enough to be able to do a good number of Yosemite classics. It was a little chilly, which was probably why it was so devoid of climbers. I was sitting at the top of the second pitch of Bishop's Terrace, which I had just lead, and was reflecting on how I came to this point. A little over a year ago I took a backpacking trip to Yosemite with my wife and some friends. (Pictures here) At that point, I was pretty into climbing, but had never trad climbed. In fact, it had been 6 months since my climbing accident and I was still trying to get my sport climbing leader head back. As I walked around Yosemite for the first time, I was awed by my surroundings and dreamt of the day I would be climbing these famous cliffs. At that point it seemed like almost an unreal dream. I was only a moderate climber and had never trad climbed. I didn't even know anyone who did who could teach me, but I vowed to get there. In that year, I met Steve S. (Capt Steve), who became my climbing partner and one of my best friends. We collectively met Ivy who WAS a trad climber and agreed to teach us. After a number of trips to Joshua tree, Steve and I were feeling pretty confident and took a trip to Granite Mountain in Prescot, AZ (pictures here), where we did a number of multi-pitch routes, confident without our mentor. Fast forward to sitting hundreds of feet up on Bishops Terrace, looking over the beauty of Yosemite Valley. I couldn't help but feel very fortunate. It made me feel good about myself too, knowing I had set goals, worked hard, and with a little luck, achieved them. I have lots of new goals now, mostly climbing and mountaineering related, and I now have the confidence to know I will achieve them.

Posted by wonko at November 3, 2002 07:42 PM

Comments

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?