"Bealy on?"

"On belay."

"Climbing."

"Climb on."

Yesterday afternoon I came home and was relaxing a bit.
Felt a little sleepy. Thought about reading a book.
And then I got invited to go rock climbing.

ummm. YES!

There was full Sage in bloom all through the hike there. Smelled lovely!

So, I hopped into the car with:

• Anna- my new roomie.
• Emma- her sister (visiting).
• Trever- Golden local/ Anna's friend.
• Marty- currently lives in what will be my new bedroom/ CSM student.

Trever goes climbing often and is quite experienced. He's going to start leading climbs and has already led a few. Emma had been once before. Anna goes with Trever when she's in Golden. Marty goes with friends in Golden. I am scared of heights.

Emma going up! Trever being the belayer. Marty teaching me how to tie the figure 8 knot securely to my harness.

We drove down the road to Clear Creek, and began our mountaineering.
First, let's define this:
mountain climbing: the activity of climbing a mountain.

Trever leading.

There are several numerical ratings for the activity of mountaineering.
The grades are as follows:

• Class 1 is walking on an even, often planar, surface with a low chance of injury, and a fall is unlikely to be fatal.
• Classes 2 and 3 are steeper scrambling with increased exposure and a greater chance of severe injury, but falls are not always fatal.
• Class 4 can involve short steep sections where the use of a rope is recommended, and un-roped falls could be fatal.
• Class 5 is considered true rock climbing, predominantly on vertical or near vertical rock, and requires skill and a rope to proceed safely. Un-roped falls would result in severe injury or death.

^Thanks wikki!


Once you get up to level 5, there is a 1-12 rating.
(Actually, there can be up to 15; however, this is just getting technical.)

Our climb for the day...drum roll, please...was a 5.8!

I did the climb in my vibram 5 fingers,
and my yogi-ism definitely came into play.

We were already about 7,000-8,00o ft up above sea level.
I haven't been here a week yet. My body is getting a full crash course in altitude acclimation!

I didn't go all the way to the top-- but I did go up about 30ft : D
For a novice from the FL flat-lands, I am pretty darn proud of myself!

Marty rappelling down.