To say I was excited, is easily the understatement here.
Since I started climbing almost year and a half ago, the sport quickly grew on me. I had lots of core strength and body awareness through years of Pilates training and with the regularly growing obstacle course races (OCR) in my schedule, my upper body could deal with my own body weight while hanging, swinging & progressing within the obstacle. The heavier my involvement in OCR, the bigger the obstacles got, the more they demanded of you; whether it was testing your mental stamina, physical abilities, endurance, or grip strength, you always needed to be ready to perform at your peak skill level. It was through my desire to improve in OCR that I took up indoor rock climbing but what I’ve received back has been immeasurable. This is the only sport I have had the most consist training schedule with since I started the initial fit journey 5 years ago; after my first day in Wilmington Rock Gym (WRG), November 26 2016, I can regularly been found in the rock gym at least 2-3 times a week.

I enjoy bouldering, climbing without the use of ropes or harnesses usually short & technical problems/ routes, however I’ve gravitated towards top roping, a form of climbing where both climber & belayer are attached to a rope using an anchor system, as I prefer the endurance and going high aspect. With a passion for pushing beyond, it was probably natural I had a huge interest in lead climbing, a technique where as the climber ascends they create their own anchor points vs one anchor point like top roping. I believe the first time Id seen lead climbing was during my first trip, on March 4 2017, to Triangle Rock Club (TRC) in Morrisville NC, a substantially larger indoor facility compared to WRG, my home gym. TRC is a sizable building featuring walls upwards of 55 feet, offering plenty of bouldering, top rope & lead climbing and a massive leap from WRG’s 21-foot wall. Since Im pretty open to new experiences, Id really wanted to try the lead climbs but one problem remained; in order to lead climb, one must be certified first. Needless to say, when the first opportunity to lead climb came up, I definitely took it.

It was a wonderfully sunny North Carolina day, July 2017, we were at Pilot Mountain in the area known as the Amphitheater. I was with my friend Kristi Cooke, who I knew was a lead climber as well as a climber who puts safety as their first priority, so I knew it was the right combination to ask about a potential lead climb. I could see the slight hesitation in her body language as I tried to have the convincing agreement that I was ready; I very distinctively remember saying “I wouldn’t ask to do this if I didn’t feel confident enough and I trust you wholeheartedly”. Apparently, I presented my case well because soon after Kristi was teaching proper clip in technique and lent me her helmet. The route was titled Mild Mannered Secretary is a 50 foot wall with a 5.7 rating. Indoors, I could easily crush a 5.7 problem clean, but this was only my 2^nd time outdoors and I’d already learned it’s a completely different experience in every way from how you can approach the problems to how you utilize your hands. So clearly, I was biting off a lot to chew on. Without hesitation, I put my hands on the rock face, turned to Kristi and said “climbing”. “Climb on” she responded. I began my first lead climb, which was done completely on-sight and besides clipping into the final carabiner, my other favorite moment, was the small discussion I had to have with myself regarding a potential fall. I had to make a foot match on the tiniest of holds and I knew if there was any moment I was going to fall off the wall, this was going to be it and I needed to be ready, (when was the last time you did something for the first time?). As I held tightly onto the rock, took a nice sized inhale and lasered in on the foot transition. Digging one toe down onto the other, driving pressure directly from the top foot, I pulled my bottom foot off the wall, making a clean swap, it was beautiful. I sent it. I was so proud of myself. Its one of those things, you know you can do it, but still couldn’t believe you did it. A high on your own supply kind of feeling.

It’s been 9 months since that lead climb. Its been 9 months since I felt that rush. But as of Saturday April 7 2018, all of that has changed. I arrived early, yet ready to take one of the biggest leaps of my athletic timeline, I was signed up for the lead climbing course at Stone Summit Atlanta (SSA). Weeks prior this day, Id talked a lot about how I wanted to get lead certified and my friend Aida Cepic indirectly took it as her responsibility to prepare me for this past weekend. We worked on basic clip in & lead climbing general rules and every time we would meet, we’d pick a trail rope from the front desk and work on mock lead climbs (where I would tie in two ropes, one for her to belay with top rope and the other I would pull along and clip in as if I were lead climbing. Since I always request for slack in my rope, I was practically lead climbing these problems but with the catch of a top rope verses the drop with lead climbing). As I prepared for this day, I felt extremely excited to make a progression in my climbing skills. As I learned the proper hand technique for clipping in, I felt a smile come across my face and a light in my heart turn on, Id just realized the rock gym was about to become a limitless environment. As we closed out the course, I mentally prepared myself for something Id never done before, free fall off the wall. The route I took was a 5.8+, nothing I couldn’t handle. First the lead climb up the wall, make it to the overhang, which started at about 25 feet and once under the overhang, I was to climb 3 more clips up to waist height, and let go. And let go I did. It was easily a 10-foot drop and holy shit, as scary as it was, it was one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done in my life.

Id pass the course for the day and would need to come back for the official test. Since I was cleared to climb, Aida and I got on a couple of 5.8s to play around and truly feel the test of lead climbing. By then, we’d been at the gym for several hours and it was time to go, but I wasn’t done yet, I wanted to get on the big wall, I wanted to test my hand at a real ass lead climb. “The green route”, I said. “That 5.10+, that’s me right there. Let’s do it.” Now I don’t know the height of this wall, Im thinking 60 feet, what I do know is that wall is coming at you the entire time with only a handful of vertical sections. I definitely knew Id bitten off more than I could chew, but my girl Grace Sims was playing in the back of my head, “how can you ever challenge yourself if you only do things you know you can do?” Plus, Im all about that YOLO life (you only life once, for those who aren’t hip), so YOLO. Although I’ll let the video finish out the rest of this conversation, Id like to speak about the video. We experience our lives, but we don’t get to see ourselves. This is what I like most about videoing my accomplishments, I like to see what you, the outsider looking in, sees because I don’t see that same person in myself. There will always be people who are better than me at everything I do, love & enjoy and while I can sit in admiration, there are others who sit in admiration of me and what I can do. I have good days and I have bad days and the days I climb, I only have that moment, I am very present, I am very aware, and I love how my brain doesn’t have time to focus on other thoughts (well except for food, im always thinking about food). I love watching this video for several reasons, like that massive ass fall I take at the end (have I mentioned yet I love the falling part?), but what I take away the most is how confident the girl climbing in that video is. She moves without hesitation. She sees the challenges in front of her and while some might present a new level of difficulty, she kept going. I watch her in admiration, and she is me.

——-> CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO <——-

Thank you Kristi, for giving me an opportunity that meant the absolute world to me. While we all face doubts in our life, you are someone I admire and I have since the day I met you. I’m lucky to call you friend and I cant wait to play with you outdoors again, #GameChanger.
Thank you Aida, your simple act of kindness created greatness. You have single-handedly made a dream of mine come true. I’ve loved watching you gain confidence in yourself, you are more bad ass than you give yourself credit for, I hope I get to continue to watch you flourish. #ThatOneTakeLife