The Tandem "Yes"

Leah, Patti and I were climbing yesterday when one of the lifeguards approached me with a yellow piece of paper. I searched through my mind to figure out what I had done.

Did I take my brake hand off the rope?

I was totally confused and could barely hear Matt when he said, You're on the waiting list for the lead climbing class. Do you want to sign up?

Before I could open my mouth, there's a tandem Yes from Leah and Patti.

What they said, I tell Matt and, before I lose my nerve, I sign up for the July 13th class instead of the one deeper in the month.

Really, how do I get myself into these things? I know what you're thinking -- Leah and Patti...

Self-doubt crept into my mind and I followed the feeling and figured out that I still feel clumsy on the wall. Never mind that I climb 5.9's these days and that July 6th was one of the best outings that I've had in a while since my climbing felt more controlled and relaxed and I felt more secure.

There is anxiety around not doing well in the class. I finally told myself that it's a class and classes are to provide instruction.

The other issue? I continue to compare myself to others. Didn't my yoga teacher just advise against that the other day?

In addition, what probably got my heart rate pumping was actually watching a part of the class the last time they had it AND having to sign an additional waiver to say that lead climbing is inherently more dangerous than top roping...

Route Tally for July 6th:

Spring Cleaning, 5.6

Spring Cleaning, 5.6

Spring Cleaning, 5.6 (Down Climbed)

Baby Steps, 5.8

Best Flavor, 5.8

Buena Vista, 5.9

Dig In, 5.9

Ghost, 5.9

Paranoid Troglodyte, 5.9

Static Report, 5.9

Leah leading climbing -- figures out the crux


Patti takes on the route that Leah lead

Wild Moves On The Rock, Part I of II

I met Joe when we were both climbing alone in April of 2010. I went climbing outdoors for the first time with Joe (Mike and Patti) and this interview was conducted while we were on the way back from that outdoor stint.

‘Drea: How long have you been climbing?

Joe: I’ve been climbing since 2005. So, about five years.

‘Drea: And how does your friend convince you to go climbing if you’re apprehensive about heights?

Joe: Well, I think he helped me to frame it as an opportunity to conquer my fear of heights and the way that he described how fun it is was pretty compelling and I also loved being outside anyway. So, I thought the worst thing that could happen is that I would be unable to do it but I'd be able to enjoy a day outside.

‘Drea: That’s a good way to look at it. Did you like it the first time that you went?

Joe: Sort of (chuckling). The first time that we went, we started off with a rappel off a 90 foot overhang and I had the harness on and I was all geared up and it was time to just roll out over the edge and keep myself from plummeting to my death by pulling the break of the rope and my friend had to, very patiently, talk me through that. It probably took 15 minutes to get me to roll out over the edge.

‘Drea: What did he tell you?

Joe: He said it’s really safe. It’s really simple. It’s okay to take my time. It’s gonna be okay. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. It’s really fun once you get out there.

(Laughter)

‘Drea: That sounds like a good friend…Did you ever take any classes at the gym?

Joe: Uh-uh.... No classes.

‘Drea: So, everything you know about rock climbing, you learned from your friend?

Joe: Mm-hmm, basically.

‘Drea: What else did he teach you about rock climbing?

Joe: Safety was always really important with him and now it’s really important with me. So, he would talk about all these different kinds of knots and pieces of equipment that you could use to make different, safe contraptions for top roping and various things you would want to do...hitches or something but, mostly, I think I learned from him how to be a little bit mentally tougher than I would naturally be able to be because his fingers would just be dripping blood and he would be just making these wild moves on the rock knowing that if he fell, he would just be caught by the rope.

‘Drea: Is this with bouldering? (Duh, bouldering is not done with ropes.)

Joe: This was with wall climbing but also with bouldering he would be 20 feet up in the air and making wild moves and it was just like whoa.

Patti: That doesn’t sound very safe to me.

(Laughter)

Joe: We had extra crash pads if we were bouldering and we had very safe equipment if we were on the wall.

‘Drea: So, it was nothing that he told you; it was just by example with him tackling problems?

Joe: I think that what I learned the most out of how to tie a figure eight and all kind of things he taught me; that's what really sticks with me.

'Drea: So, how did you feel when you went up the first route? Like, was it hard? Did you scamper up pretty easily?

Joe: It was very hard and it was at St. Francois (State Park) and there are, like, five routes at St. Francois and two of them are very moderate. So, we had very limited options but it was gorgeous and we started off at the top of the cliff and then rappelled down and climbed back up and so I was already having this kind of mystical, nature experience from being at the top of the cliff, rappelling down before we even started trying to climb back up. So that helped me even though I was scared and, even though it was hard, I kept plugging away.

‘Drea: Did you get better by following his example and just continuing to climb routes until you got it?

Joe: Yes, we did that and we also tried to -- we were really out on a mission to be able to climb 5.12’s. We did pull-up workout routines when we couldn’t get to the gym. We tried to climb at least three times a week which was the biggest part and we built a climbing wall in the garage of my house.

‘Drea: Sweet.

Joe: Yeah and then we would be bouldering, pretty much, on a daily basis.

‘Drea: Did he tell you anything else about technique or you just watched him and kinda mimicked what he was doing? Anything about drop knees? Matching feet?

Joe: He was always coaching all the time. So, yeah, all the techniques…he was both really encouraging and also telling me things to try…but it’s kind of funny; we have two pretty different techniques because he’s 6’4 and, like, over 200 pounds. I’m just under six feet and I’m like 150 pounds. And he’s really, really strong...but I really enjoy figuring out how to place my body so that I can make use of the hand holds and the foot holds and I usually tend not to be super-fast. I’m not a sprinter when I’m climbing but I enjoy really feeling the holds and feeling the different positions that I can get my body into to be helpful for getting to the next move.

‘Drea: So, you’re more like a detective on the route?

Joe: I like that idea. Yeah, but I’ve gotten more efficient. I used to be such a detective that I would be in one spot forever and my friend would be like, okay, we only have four more hours.

‘Drea: So, how many marathons have you done?

Joe: I’ve done two marathons.

‘Drea: Are you planning on doing anymore?

Joe: Heck, no!

(Laughter)

‘Drea: You’re hanging up your marathon hat?

Joe: That’s right. Yeah.

‘Drea: Did you do half or full?

Joe: Full.

‘Drea: Oh yeah, I would hang up my hat too. Do you play any other sports?

Joe: I love playing ultimate Frisbee but I don’t get to often but I hope to get back to it in the future.

‘Drea: Is that a team sport?

Joe: It’s like soccer or football but it’s with a Frisbee. I love soccer. I love basketball. I still enjoy trail running just not marathons. I really like playing any sport.

‘Drea: Me too. I mean, for the most part. I don’t know anything about soccer but I like to watch it. It’s just looks like and all-around good sport to play that requires agility. You have running...

Joe: And ultimate Frisbee is like that too. You might like it.

‘Drea: Are you in a league in this area?

Joe: No, we had a weekly, basically, a pick-up game but there were regulars who always came on Saturday afternoons in Webster Groves and, then, I would try to jump into other games if I could.

‘Drea: So, how are you going to convince your wife to get into rock climbing?

(Laughter)

Joe: I’m still working that out. If you have any insights, please let me know.

‘Drea: What did she say when she went climbing?

Joe: She said it really wasn’t her thing. She didn’t feel like she could get up the rocks and she’s scared of heights. She didn’t see the point.

(Chuckling)

‘Drea: And what do you think the point of rock climbing is?


(Mike, Joe and Chuck)

Joe: I think it’s to transcend on all these different levels and I really see it as a great practice that combines spirit and mind and body and, for me, it really helped me go from being terrified of heights and limited by that terror to not being terrified and being respectful of heights.

‘Drea: It’s pretty cool when you’ve been working on a route and you have that metaphoric-feeling of getting to the top.

Joe: And it seems like anytime it’s a pretty challenging route, for me, there are moments when I think Oh, I don’t know if I can do this but then I keep going and that feels really powerful to me.

A Hard Moment Here and There: A Look Behind The Rock Climbing Scene, Part I of III

It unnerves me when I'm not well-armed with information. I have a need to know and, when I really started getting into rock climbing, I read a few primers and I scoured blogs. I came upon The Chalk Bag (infrequently updated) and Steph Davis' blog in which she typically responds to people who have questions for her. I was left wanting more. I wanted to get behind the rock climbing mystique. What better place to start than with two of my favorite rock climbers in the whole wide world? Here's part one of an interview with Jessica and Patti who were gracious enough to sit down with me after climbing today.


'Drea: How did you get involved with rock climbing?

Jessica: It’s something that I always wanted to try…When I was in college, a lot of my friends would come down to Upper Limits and go climbing and it never worked out; I’d be doing something and I couldn’t go at the same time they were going. Classes got in the way and I would say I’ll do it next year; I’ll do it next year and, finally, when I graduated, I really wanted to get into it and I was tired of waiting and I was like, you know what, I not going to wait for someone else to take me, I’m just going to go. So, I found out about a deal that was going on at the gym. It was a six week course, rentals included; you could climb as much as you wanted in between the classes and then you had a class every week that would teach you how to belay, climbing techniques and, ideally, would have you up to a level where you could do 5.9s which was pretty optimistic. We were doing 5.8s, I think, by the time we got done.

‘Drea: How did mom (Patti) come into the picture?

Jessica: I wanted someone to do it with me.

Patti: I guess I’m the gullible one.

Jessica: I was gonna do it no matter what and, so, I get along well with my mom...

‘Drea: Did you think she was going to participate?

Jessica: No, I didn’t think she was going to do it...

Patti: Really?

Jessica: Well, I thought there was a chance that you might try it but there was no way that I could have predicted that you would get into it and you would still be climbing three years later.

‘Drea: What did you say when she asked you?

Patti: No way. But then she said, Mom, mom, I only have fifteen minutes and there are only two spots left and then they’re going to give the spots away. We have to do it. We have to. Come on mom. I really want you do it with me. Come on, please. I said, “Okay, let me think about it and Jessica said, no, you only have 15 minutes.”

Jessica had signed up to be on a waiting list and a staff member, Aaron, notified Jessica that there were only two spots left and wanted to know if she was in or out.

‘Drea to Patti: Did you feel any pressure with fifteen minutes to decide?

Patti: Yes, yessssss. And then I thought, well, it would be some fun time to spend with Jess... I don’t care what we’re doing as long as we’re doing something together.

‘Drea: So, you said “sign me up.”

Patti: And then I paid for it too.

‘Drea: Such a nice mom.

Jessica: She is…

‘Drea: You paid to be tortured.

Patti: Yes, I did and I paid for her to be tortured too.

Jessica: And we walked in the first day and the first thing we see is someone climbing lead on the overhang and we don’t know what lead is. We don’t know what top rope is. We think it’s all the same and we’re doing what everyone else is doing and the guy falls and he swings through the middle and mom grabs me and goes “Oh my God.” Our class met upstairs where the walls aren’t quite as high and the first day was just talking about it and, the whole time, mom is just looking around.

‘Drea: And you were afraid of heights when you first started to climb?

Patti: Yes, you can feel your stomach in your toes...

Jessica: We stayed after the first time and John was working here and we started climbing and I climbed up once and got to the top and I was shaking and it was really hard to get up. I didn’t know the technique. Not the same muscles that I had been using before. It’s just something that’s really different. I’m gripping the rock…I’m gripping with 110% of my strength.

‘Drea: That was me.

Jessica: It’s normal. That’s what people do. I came down. My arms were shaking. I was like I’m done. I’m good. John came up to me and said “That’s not all you’re doing, right?”...“Well, I guess nottttttttt...”

‘Drea: What all did you learn in class?

Patti: Quiet feet (climbing with bells), all about belaying, belay devices, fireman’s rappel and we learned about using our arms, hanging low, stretching out…

Jessica: Paul was our instructor and he was really good at explaining like what’s going on where. Telling us things like if you have a two finger pocket, you don’t want to actually use your pointer and middle finger; you want to use your middle and ring finger to put in there because, even though it doesn’t feel as strong, those are tendons that go straight back into the arm whereas your pointer finger kind of curves a little bit. So, it’s not as hard on your body and you’re getting more out of it if you hang on like that.… Lots of little things like that: drop knees, gaston...


‘Drea: How long was it (rock climbing) hard?

Patti: It’s always hard. (We all burst out laughing.) That doesn’t change…

Jessica to Patti: Now, what was the point that it became less of something that you were just trying and something that you wanted to do regularly?

Patti: I’m still not sure. I guess when I figured that I’m 49. We started, I think, two weeks before my 49th birthday because then the next fall we went out (doors) for the first time and that was my 50th birthday.

‘Drea: So, it was like a birthday gift that you gave yourself?

Patti: Yeah, and I could do it. There have been people who’ve come in and couldn’t get to the top the first time and I could…and it uses all of your muscles and it’s engaging; it’s not like spending time on an elliptical and you’re going, Oh my God, it’s only been two minutes.

‘Drea: So how long did it take you to not be sore?

Patti: About three months.

Jessica: I don’t remember what it was for me.

Patti: You know the older you are the longer it takes you to recover...

‘Drea: What were you doing before climbing?

Jessica: I was going to the gym. My lower back has bothered me since high school…I carried tenors (five drums). The elliptical really helped with loosening my back up. I did some weight training, swimming. I get bored easily so it was a lot of flipping to different things but never really finding anything fun -- always being active… This is the first time that I found something physical that I looked forward to doing because, mom’s right, it is really mentally engaging. If you’re figuring out the puzzle all the time, you’re always constantly gauging can I do this? Can I not? It keeps you on your toes…

Patti: I always walked and kept active that way and I would do tapes but just before that I had started on the elliptical and I had done that for, I don’t know how many months, and I got plantar fasciitis and, so there goes walking, there goes anything. So, for awhile there, I wasn’t doing anything and it slowly came back to where I could do some stuff and I would periodically do a tape but that was about it...



Part II of Interview with Jessica and Patti

Part III of Interview with Jessica and Patti