Upon turning 55 this past December, I made the possibly crazy decision to climb at 55 crags in a year. Crazy, impulsive, or just plain fun, I have begun (actually I began in January). Here, I will do my best to chronicle this year’s adventures.
I have been climbing for about 8 years. I started after my kids joined the youth climbing team at Vertical Hold in San Diego. I was driving them there a few times a week and rather than fight traffic and waste time driving back and forth or sitting and reading a book, I was encouraged by their coach to try it out myself. I really liked it and was immediately hooked. Already a runner and having been a triathlete, I was always happy to find another cool upper body workout. Of course, as any climber knows, it turns out when you are doing it right, it is much more than an upper body workout but that is how I perceived it at first in my runner’s mindset. At first, I spent a lot of time on the traverse wall, but quickly moved into bouldering, then top-roping, and then lead-climbing a bit and I have loved it ever since.
The world of climbing has given me many wonderful friendships, some of whom I know will be life-long. That coach who encouraged me to try it out is now a close friend. I will be happy to have many of these friends along for this adventure.
I am confident that this quest for 55 will be amazing. It will include many friends and my family and will allow us to wake up more often than not in the beautiful wilderness, one of my favorite things to do and places to be.
