I'm very afraid of heights. We're not talking a little bit - I get serious anxiety leaning over a balcony railing. So, when my husband suggested we take our 2-year-old rock climbing (she's been asking to go) I thought he was insane. But, he assured me that its perfectly safe. So, on Friday afternoon, we met some friends, my brother and his gf in the mountains. They strapped me up and made me go first. The climbing part was ok - until I looked down. I only made it up about 15 feet before I was begging to come down. And coming down was tricky too - I had to let go of the rock, push my feet into the side of the cliff, and hold my legs out straight. Then, I just "walked" right down the mountain. Ha. Easier said than done. It took me quite a while to get that courage up. But once I actually did it, I'll admit that it was very fun.
After me was Gracelin's turn. She excitedly strapped on the harness, and started right up. She caught on quite quickly, and had a blast climbing up. Of course, we "helped" her along a bit, by pulling the rope up, but she was climbing in a sense - and loving every minute of it. She made it much higher than I did, and made it a point of telling me so.
Not wanting to be shown up by my 2-year-old little girl, I tried again after everyone else got a turn. This time, I made it much higher before I looked down. Of course I was again paralyzed with fear. But coming down was much less scary.
Funny thing is: ever since, I've been dying to go back. I even got a new pair of climbing shoes from my favorite obsession, steepandcheap.com. I think though that we may try the climbing gym next for some work on the basics, but we do plan on conquering the cliffs again soon. G and I are hooked.
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