Blog

Hello From Boston

• July 2007
• Training Uncategorized

Hi Stephanie!
I can’t believe I found your website with your blog. I got your book a few months ago and have been reading it through the summer. I haven’t been able to climb as much this summer, so it’s one of the few things keeping me sane. 🙂
I just started climbing last summer with a friend at an indoor gym. Then I went back to school in Boston and started dating a guy who climbed and went outside for a few times and fell completely in love with it. I can’t get enough of it. I love the feeling. I’ve learned so much about myself and my surroundings. I’ve grown so much as a person. There’s few times in my life besides when you are close to a rock, focusing on yourself, and that moment of life slows down, it’s such a phenomenal feeling.
I know you said you started climbing in college, its the same thing with me at MIT. However, I’m still relatively new, and don’t feel comfortable leading.

This past year I was lucky and dating a climber on and off. However, when things weren’t so great, it was always frustrating to realize that one of the things that I had to give up along with the relationship was climbing as well. Climbing really is a community sport. It’s frustrating that the few guys I do know who climb, tend to either want to stick with themselves or take girls they are interested in. This summer I ended up teaching at a high school in Kenya. I brought my harness with me, stepped out of my comfort zone visiting the mountain club here by myself, emailing friends of friends of friends that might be interested in climbing, but I have had no luck. I guess I was wondering if you had any suggestions or how you dealt with this? Is there just an inexperienced stage where you sort of end up being dependent on other people and your surrounds to go climbing? I just feel so limited and constrained.
I feel like there are so many little things that you mention that directly relate to me right now as a climber and as a person. Climbing has humbled me, yet also made me find some confidence in myself. I’ve learned that when guys are all excited about some rockstar girl climber, to still be proud of yourself and your own accomplishments. I really like how you said it in your book, how you climb for yourself and no one else.
Also, gosh, what is Yosemite like? At some point in my life I want to visit and climb. I know I may not be at the phenominal level at the time, but it sounds amazing. I was extremely lucky and found someone to spend my spring break climbing at Joshua tree. I loved climbing and I also loved the community. I’ve never found people like that anywhere else. Although I’ve gone to the gym and seen young teenagers training for competitions with their coaches, and do feel like I’m behind or missed out, I still feel extremely lucky to have been able to be introduced to climbing when I’m 21.
Gosh, I just wanted to say thanks again for posting your climbing pictures, and for taking the time to write your book. It really helps me to remember what climbing is like even though when I’m not able to climb. Thanks for sharing everything that you’ve learned.

Steph
(Yes another stephanie…) 🙂

Dear Steph,
Thanks so much for all your kind words and your thoughts. It’s great to hear about how special climbing has been in your life. I agree with you–community is one of the best parts of climbing (actually, it’s one of my favorite parts about having this blog going, meeting more climbers). It can be hard to get started, when you are new and don’t have your group of friends around you yet. But you have a huge advantage, because you are in college, and you have summers and winters and spring break free! There are a few places where you can just show up and join the climbing scene, and you will start to have friends and partners. Hueco Tanks, in the winter (Thanksgiving or Winter break), is a great place for that. Indian Creek in the fall or early spring (Spring Break) is another. When I was in college, I went to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming in the summer, and always met people to climb with there. Yosemite is of course a famous hotspot, but can be a little overwhelming with so many climbers and people–it can be hard to find your place in Camp 4, if you show up alone from far away. Since you are in the east, you can also go to the New River Gorge or the Gunks on any weekend and find people to climb with. If you are like me, it can feel scary or intimidating to walk up to people and start talking to them, and ask them for a belay. But once you do, you always end up making new friends, and having a great time. I’ve met some of my best friends this way. I just take a deep breath, smile, and walk up to people at the cliff and say, “Hi! Do you think I could get a belay?” It always works, and I end up meeting great new friends. I’ve even done this in Patagonia!
And I think it’s great you started climbing at age 21. Don’t feel like it’s “too late.” It’s not. It’s the perfect time. The longer you climb, the more you will love it. My friend and hero Lee Sheftel (a very strong Rifle climber, who redpointed 14a at age 60!!) didn’t start climbing until he was 33! Now he is in his early sixties, and is one of my inspirations at Rifle–out there all the time, always with a big smile, climbing really hard and enjoying every day.
Have a great time, and be safe!
xx Steph