Monday, September 18, 2006

The Climb!

So Saturday I arrived at the Climb 4 Life to find snow on the ground and a dusting on the mountain tops. Slushy snow, but keep in mind, we met in Salt Lake City (about 4300 ft. elevation). After a quick clinic to make sure all us newbie climbers weren't going to let each other fall to our deaths, we headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon and hiked up to our climb (around 5-6000 ft. elevation).

As the first climber started, it started to cloud over. We talked about going to a gym. I said "Let me get one climb in on the mountain, I haven't been in ages." So up I went.

Famous last words. It was COLD! About 40 degrees. My fingers started to go numb. I'm a little out of shape. Not as bad as this pic looks, though. That's a very puffy coat our guide loaned me. So I get about halfway up, and I'm barely hanging on, trying to figure out my next move when...can you guess? Yup...snow. LOTS OF SNOW. And wind. And my fingers are now completely numb. I came down (didn't even make it up more than 15 feet) and we decided to go to a gym. As my fingers thawed out, OUCHie! I broke 4 fingernails and scraped one of my fingers real good. Makes me look rugged, like a tough climber chick. It was beautiful up there. No doubt about it.

We went to a couple of local gyms, and hopefully I'll get pictures of that emailed to me soon and can post them. Overall we had a great time. I raised more than my goal, so thanks to everyone who donated. The Climb 4 Life this year raised $126,180. Not bad for a bunch of crazies with ropes. And the sponsors gave us each swag bags--favorite thing from mine?

These socks from Fox River. They're the best, warmest, comfiest socks ever. Seriously. These are the kind of socks I want when I ask for socks for Christmas. These. Exact. Socks.

I had a spectacular time, despite having to spend Sunday in recovery with a head cold (could it be that clinging to a wall of cold rock in the wind and snow is hard on your body? naw...) and sore muscles. Must work out.

Again, thanks to everyone who donated. Ovarian Cancer is scared of us. Rawr.

Posted by Sarah Jean :: 9:59 AM :: 2 Comments:

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