Climbing With Mike

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Today I finally get on the ropes with Mike again.  It's been a couple of years, and a long road of taking care, being patient and getting stronger.  And now, I get to go home.

At the gym, the old ritual welcomes me; shoes and socks off, belt off, to make room for the harness.  I leave my stuff upstairs and run downstairs with shoes, chalk bag and harness in hand, to do my warm up.  Still barefoot, I start to move.  First, the yoga postures I've been doing every climbing day for 17 years.  Then, I lace up the shoes, making them snug on every part of my foot.  And then, I work some chalk into my hands, and the smell and texture take me all the way back to the first day I ever climbed a rock.

Then I move to the wall and put my hands on the holds, and I'm transported.  It feels so good to move, balance and sequence.  The thought stream stops and I only have awareness for the movement.  Now Mike is here, and we pick up where we left off two years ago, trading climbs, reading routes.  Two more climbers join us, and we all connect through doing what we love.

Tomorrow is a rest day, but I think on Tuesday I will climb.  There's a route I'm reading at the gym that is calling my name; it's a grade above what I climb, but I'm sure I can get it.  That too, is back in my life now, the lines of holds I'm working on.  As I fall asleep, I can always see them in my head, like a chess game, all laid out in front of me; "if I match those two holds on the left, I can get my core over more to the side, then I won't have to lunge for that sloper.." and so on, until I drift off to sleep.