Climber Grrl - Immature for My Age

To help me get over my aversion to posting looking for a partner, and to deal with injury recovery, I made this mock post. 

Climber grrl - immature for my age - likes to climb rock, ice, and plastic. Also loves to lower into blue glacier crevasses* and probably frozen, superfund-site mineshafts too.** Experience riding waves crashing into a cliff, to jump onto a wet lava tubes route, with maximum scraping before topping out.* Slow as molasses but sweet as a sour patch. Flexible schedule and inflexible rotator cuffs. Re-entering the sport scene with a warped sense of priorities, a positive mindset, and negative view of the workforce. Can solo most stairs and lead most descents. Favorite belay is a munter!**** 

*Did actually lower into some on Mt. Hood (1994.) will look for those pics.

** There is a superfund (toxic waste cleanup) old mineshaft that I think has been filled in, in the town where I live. Heard from someone who may have done this illegally back in the day. Unconfirmed.

***Yeah, so jumped off a cliff into the ocean - literally following my friends - on Hawai'i in 1990, and found a lava tube cave, with waves to ride that crash onto a route to climb out of. Ouch!! Waves took me off the wall twice like a cheese grater. Made it!!!

****A climber friend who needed a belay while up in a tree with a chainsaw, talked me through how to belay with a munter hitch, while he was up in the tree and couldn't check me. Limbs fell, but not human ones - all was good. One of the scariest things I've ever done. 

In actuality, I have resumed climbing indoors after some pretty serious injuries with some permanent nerve damage. As a result of my son being on a competition climbing team, I learned about para climbing and RP3 category from USA Climbing - which for me means basically, a bit impaired. Worthy to look it up. When I climb, it is not visible that I had any injuries and I appear fully able. But on the wall, I cannot entirely figure out what I need to climb better. I've been able to return to walking, running, skiing, ski instructing, climbing indoors with major effort, biking, and splitting wood just fine, but regularly climbing is the hardest to get back to. I started out last year, indoors, huffing up 5.6's and 7's- which felt hard to be back at that level. Could only get through two routes a night without being exhausted. We're climbing three nights a week. These days I can do 3-5 routes and am back up to some 5.9s with work. Considering it was lucky to have survived and recovered, I'm happy and grateful, but still have important and meaningful goals to achieve.

I used to do some trad and sport leading on rock and ice, and just a touch of soloing on ice and loved it, but didn't love that I loved it. Climbed in NH, VT, CO, OR, CA, NY, KY, France, Spain, Germany and Canada. I still have the spirit and the muscle memory, but it doesn't match where I'm at currently. Will get there. Just need a few more sour patch friends.  Hoping to get back to North Conway and maybe CO this year for rock and ice, and Eagles Hollow seems like a good place to check out near me. Thanks to my friends at the gym who have been encouraging me!!!  

I feel you….. good luck with your quest.

Best wishes for you on your journey. You have spunk.   

It sounds like you're getting where you want to be and (mostly) enjoying the process? Best of luck and keep it up.

And while I'm posting, would you mind terribly if I borrowed (for occasional use only): "...and loved it, but didn't love that I loved it?"

Hey Again, 

I should add here, since I posted it in another subtopic - SCI-T2, Lupus SLE, TM, ADEM, concurrent, 10 years out now. (You can google these or message me if you don't know what these are.) Obviously, doing very well. Likely was one and done for the catastrophic medical event. 

Yes Lasso at Eagle Hollow would be perfect for you. 

You had me at " likes to climb rock, ice and plastic"

Immature for My Age

Welcome to the club, you're in!

Hey Kate, if you make your way to North Conway this summer, I'd get out with you. 1/2 day if that's better for you or whatever, no pressure. It's all fun for me. Classic in town or quieter crag, I'd be happy to be part of the process. 

Dave