Cold Climbing

I woke up a little earlier to fuel up for the climb today.

After class around 11:30, we head out to Franklin, West Virginia to do some climbing.

It was these 3 girls I know from my school and then this other guy they know who was really nice and pretty good.

We had to drive up and then down to through this one mountain range, and the trip only took like half an hour.

It was pretty sunny, but throughout the whole time, it would change from sunny to cloudy and cold to warm.

The first route we did was a 5.9, but it was still pretty tough since it was my first outdoor climb. It’s A LOT different than indoor climbing. Indoor climbing is so predictable. Outdoors, you really have to search for holds and be more creative. It’s also just a lot rougher. You know those really positive holds at the gym? They aren’t outside. The positive ones are either simply a shelf or a direction hold.

Before my climb, I lead belayed the other guy, causing the first digits of my fingers to get numb with coldness. Then I climbed, but it was pretty damn difficult. First of all, it was difficult for me to figure out what to do. Second of all, my hands were SO GODDAMN cold that it was insanely hard to feel the holds. I wasn’t sure if what I was feeling was a hold or the numbness of my hand. Also, it was difficult dealing with chalk when my hands were cold. Eventually I got it, and it was really rewarding.

I had lots of fun with climbing and the people :) Can’t wait to go again!