My 5.12 beer and Sasha DiGiulian

When my alarm went off at 8am on Sunday morning, I had no idea what I was in for.  After indulging in a couple of snooze buttons,  I finally got up, showered & ate a light breakfast (a nectarine & some Chobani pineapple yogurt - double yum!). A new rock climbing gym just opened up in the Boston area this past week & I wanted to check it out along with a group of my friends.

We had all made plans to meet at the gym @ 10:30am, but only one of my friends had arrived with me on time. After filling out our waivers & taking the belay test, we looked around for an easy 5.7 climb to warm up on.  I tied into what I thought was a 5.7 rope, but then realized that I had tied into a 5.12 rope by mistake. I looked at the route & decided to just give it a try, not expecting to make it too far.  It was crimps the whole way up, but I did it - my first 5.12 climb!  It felt great!

That set the tone for the rest of the day for me. I felt like I could conquer anything.  After this climb, I jumped on a 5.11, which kicked my butt for 20 minutes, but I didn't give up.  My poor belayer... She ended up ripping off a callous on the palm of her hand belaying me on this route. I climbed mostly 5.11's and 5.10's for the rest of the day.  At one point, one of my friends said that there were some pro-climbers working out in the gym.  I honestly didn't know who they were, but watched in awe as they lead 5.11 routes on the lead wall like they were 5.6's.  It was only after we had left the gym did I realize that the girl that I had been watching was the best female sport climber in the world - Sasha DiGiulian!  C-R-A-Z-Y!  She was in town for the weekend for a competition. We all had so much fun that I hardly noticed how long we had been climbing.  I was shocked when we left the gym & I realized that I had been there for 5 hours.

Every new accomplishment and experience leaves me loving this sport more and more everyday.  Of course the day had to end with a 5.12 beer (Allagash).  Cheers!