Something to Shoot For

Yesterday I experienced a rare sight here in Austin.  The greenbelt has flowing water in it.  Word on the street says there hasn’t been water flowing in years, testament to the amount of consistent rain we’ve been having.  It was “dry” yesterday though.  The sun was even out at times.  And even though the humidity was hovering around 300%, Rami and I got a few good hours of climbing in at Gus Fruh.  Only a few critical holds were still wet; our shorts however stayed wet the entire time, after wading through the new greenbelt river to get to the wall.

We got started on Iranian Arms Deal (5.10a), moved over to an 5.11a, then finished up on Jerry’s Kids (5.11b).  These are pretty difficult routes for us, and we certainly were not helped by the moisture in the air, but we got a chance to work out a lot of awkward body movements.  I hadn’t been climbing since the last trip to Reimers Ranch, and I was definitely feeling the decrease in finger and arm strength.  Rami, however, is continuing to get stronger, and closer to his previous level.  I’m glad to have a good rope gun around.

We’re going to go again tomorrow morning, and at the moment I have plans for climbing at Reimers again on Saturday.  My toes are tingling.

Yesterday I talked through a few of my long term goals and objectives.  I don’t quite like starting something and stopping and the halfway point.  When I started climbing, I started because I wanted to beat my fear of heights.  It’s worked pretty well so far, but it’s far from finished.  Next summer I want to move back to Anchorage, AK.  By that time, I’d like to be fairly competent on technical rock.  The first summer in Alaska I’d like to learn more trad and alpine climbing technique, and then be ready to swing some ice axes by the time winter comes around.  A few seasons later, I think I’d be ready for big mountains.

I see bold alpine climbing as the pinnacle of the sport; where incredible skill and raw courage meet.  I’m not sure I can be satisfied until I get to that point.  That, and it’d be pretty incredible to finish my goal in the best style possible, in the mountains where it all started.