On The Same Rope

Went climbing after a two and half week hiatus. Walked up to the counter to check in and saw Burke's shining face.

Me: Happy...

Burke: Don't Happy New Year me. Give me a hug.

One of my favorite Burke moments happened as I tried to get over the arête and he yelled Woman power!

Burke told me that he had set new routes. Cool. New year. New routes.

As I belayed for Mike, Frank's friend chit chatted with me. Mike asked for a take and the friend was like I better move on; It's a good thing that you don't talk with your hands. Ah, I've missed rock climbing humor.

Later on as I belayed for Jessica, I noticed that Erin (newbie) had on new shoes. She said that her daughters gave them to her for Christmas. But they're kind of tight with these socks on, she said.

Me: Socks? You can take those off now since you're no longer wearing rental shoes.

Erin: You're a liar.

Me: Look down at my feet. Look at the guy's feet over there. You're supposed to be able to feel the rock better if there's nothing between you and your climbing shoes. I would also advise you to get foot spray...

As I approached my last route, Jessica and I went through safety checks. I looked at my figure eight knot and back-up knot. Jessica checked her carabiner then said And we're on the same rope. I started cracking up. You definitely want to be on the same rope.