I am no fantastic climber... but I do love it. What is it about climbing that is so attractive?
Maybe it's the serenity - ascending a rock... feeling the breeze on your back and the sun on your shoulders... friends laughing down below... the joy of sliding your fingers into the perfect pocket or positioning your fingers just right in a crack... finding a beautiful jug at just the right moment... hearing your own breath...
Most definitely it is the challenge - being just at the brink of tumbling towards the earth... getting pumped and pushing through it... learning to position your body... to place your feet and to trust that it's going to hold.... to utilize balance... learning to be creative and to not limit yourself... legs and arms beginning to shake... looking just a little bit further to find possibility. Where else can you put your life on the line in such an almost assuredly safe way?
And obviously, it's the beauty - the texture of limestone... the colors of the rock against the sky... the profile of a climber... the reflection of the sun from a quickdraw... the cloud of chalk as it's blown from a climber's hands... the smooth style of a master climber...
And at the end of the day, as I walk away from the routes with dusty feet and chalky... maybe even bloody hands, I know that I've spent my day in a beautiful way.
Maybe it's the serenity - ascending a rock... feeling the breeze on your back and the sun on your shoulders... friends laughing down below... the joy of sliding your fingers into the perfect pocket or positioning your fingers just right in a crack... finding a beautiful jug at just the right moment... hearing your own breath...
Most definitely it is the challenge - being just at the brink of tumbling towards the earth... getting pumped and pushing through it... learning to position your body... to place your feet and to trust that it's going to hold.... to utilize balance... learning to be creative and to not limit yourself... legs and arms beginning to shake... looking just a little bit further to find possibility. Where else can you put your life on the line in such an almost assuredly safe way?
And obviously, it's the beauty - the texture of limestone... the colors of the rock against the sky... the profile of a climber... the reflection of the sun from a quickdraw... the cloud of chalk as it's blown from a climber's hands... the smooth style of a master climber...
And at the end of the day, as I walk away from the routes with dusty feet and chalky... maybe even bloody hands, I know that I've spent my day in a beautiful way.
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