Climbing Rocks!

Rock climbing fascinates me! It's something I've always wanted to do. I even took a rock climbing class at USU and I have shoes and a really cute chalk bag with the really sweet chalk ball. (I just found out that there's even a much cooler chalk ball out there.) I haven't used them that much though. You need a few other pieces of gear like a rope, a harness, and a belayer unless you are just going to go bouldering. Oh let's go back to that comment "always wanted to do . . ." Actually it never interested me. . .until one day . . .this boy that I had a crush on asked me to go to the rock climbing gym with him. Oh and did I mention he invited another girl to come with. Let's just say I felt very intimated and frustrated. I had never climbed and like most physical activities I discovered I didn't have a whole lot of skill in the art of climbing. So my determination got the better of me and I decided I would learn all I could about this mysterious skill. Who knows? One day I might kick his butt in rock climbing. For those that know me I'm a very slow learner and climbing rocks is no exception. Plus I freak out a little bit when I'm ten feet off the ground. But I'm also very determined. I spent the winter months in the gym . . .practicing. I could hang on forever. I made a little progress and then one day I went climbing outside for the first time. It was a disaster. Who knew that my legs could shake so bad? Later that summer I continued to climb. My good friend Ben kept pushing me. The first time I made it to the top - Wow! I had actually climbed to the top. It was beautiful. I then moved to Texas. For those that have never been to Texas it has no mountains. Well I figured I would go find a rock climbing gym. And I did. But it really was no good. So for 4 years I never climbed. 2 1/2 years ago I moved here to St. George. Just this winter I started climbing again. At first I was a bit overwhelmed. But I am slowly learning to trust myself again. And to trust my belayer. And to trust the rope. I'm learning to push out the negative thoughts that swarm my head and make me shake with fear. I am learning to climb. Yes, I'm still a slow learner and there are others that I climb with that learn so much quicker than I. But I am determined and fascinated by this adventure they call climbing rocks!