About Me

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Hello everyone!  As you can tell from the title of my blog, rock climbing is my sport.

This past summer of 2011, I read a fantasy book called Atherton: The House of Power  by Patrick Carman, in which the main character is a free soloer.  The way this author described the thrill of rock climbing made me want to try it, although, at the time, I didn’t even know indoor climbing existed.

In July, my parents (they’re the best a climber could wish for!) surprised me with a punch pass to Peak Experiences, a climbing gym in Midlothian, Virginia.  I went climbing for the first time on the second or third Monday in July.  It was an amazing experience, basically summed up by Paul Robinson’s words about when he first started climbing: “I was terrible, but I loved it.  It clicked, and that’s all I wanted to do from that point on.”  That day I climbed two 5.4’s and barely finished a 5.5!  So funny to look back on…  Lots of thanks to Drew Collier, my first belayer.  He gave me one of my first and best impressions of the amazing staff at Peak and was the only reason I made it up that last wall.  His piece of advice that I will never forget- If you make up your mind to do something (finish a wall, in that case), you will.  This is what has helped me reach all of my goals!  Thanks Drew, you rock!

After I finished my punch pass, I signed up for Training Team and met my coaches, Andy Cutler and Jacob Adams, the most awesome coaches and friends ever!  I loved Training Team, but from the start, my goal was to be on Pro Team, Peak’s competitive team, ever since I watched a video on Peak’s old webpage the first day I went climbing.

In September, I went to Team tryouts and had lots of fun, but didn’t make Team.  I hadn’t been expecting to anyway, since I was only climbing 5.9’s at the time, but I was told to tryout again, which encouraged me lots.  One benefit of going to tryouts was that I found that I climb harder in a competitive atmosphere.

I kept on climbing and got a ton stronger through TRX suspension training and Training Team coach Kati Peter’s tough PT sessions.  But soon Training Team workouts were no longer really a challenge for me.  One day in January, 2012, head Pro Team coach Brent Quesenberry invited me to Pro Team practice.  He did it very casually, but I knew better.  I was so nervous all through practice, but still was able to climb my best through mock Iso practice.  Sure enough, at the end of the night, Brent invited me on Team!

So that’s my short history of rock climbing!  Now I’m on Team B on the Pro Team.  Andy and Jacob are still my main coaches, but Brent, Jacob Johnson, Corrie Littlepage, and Andrew Palmer are Team coaches as well.  I’m currently projecting 5.11+, learning to lead, and have been climbing for around 7 months.  I climb four to five times a week and am loving it!

So, now that you know more about me, I can move on to why I want to start a blog.  Three reasons: (1) I want to help climbers stay psyched for the sport they love, (2) Hopefully post some helpful info, and (3) just show one person’s love for climbing and how she accomplishes her dreams.

I’m a person who has to have a schedule, so here’s a rough sketch of what I’m hoping to do and what you can expect most of the time.  Nothing set in stone, of course.  I tried to find a rhyme for each of them.

• Monday Movies- My favorite way to stay psyched!  Gotta love climbing videos!  Will also post recommendations on books/sites if I have any.  Oh, and pics too.
• Tuesday Training- Mental and technical training ideas.
• Wednesday Workouts- Physical training, on the wall and off.
• Thursday Thoughts- Awesome quotes and articles!
• Friday Facts- Stuff about eating right and fun climber’s lingo.
• Saturday Statistics- All about how my week went and how much closer I am to reaching my goals

Each day I’ll provide a comment opportunity and a fun challenge for each post if I can think of one.  Well, here goes nothing…  🙂

– February 2012