Apologies for the lack of writing. Right after Paraclimbing Nationals in Atlanta, I had to fly right back out to Denver, Colorado for a work-related trip to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. I was not pleased with all the flying, as sitting down for extended periods of time is painful for my back and exacerbates the neuropathy in my left-leg. Between my partner and myself, we had shuttled ourselves back and forth from the airport far too many times, and I quipped that this was like Groundhog Day, except far less entertaining.

While the training at NREL was long and tiring, I managed to fit in one day of climbing outside in Vedauwoo, WY! The place reminds me a lot of Joshua Tree, in terms of the jumbles of rocks, the abrasiveness of the rock, and the length of climbs. I came back as one big scab. While I may never regain my title of the off-width wizard, I am looking forward to getting more into the wide again. I do not think I will be able to do off-widths that are left side in though :-/

This past Saturday, I took a friend to North Conway to show her the ways of the crack-climbing warrior. She is not an experienced crack (or even outdoor) climber at all, so I did all the leading. It was actually a very good learning experience for me and gave me experience as to what guiding might be like. In fact, as I was belaying her up from the top of the first pitch of the day, a guide who was on that same ledge asked me “Are you guiding?” I was very pleased that 1) I didn’t look so gimpy as to preclude the possibility of me being a guide; and 2) My anchors and belay setup were guide-worthy :) It was hard work though, physically. There was a fair bit of hoisting my friend up and even though she is about the same weight as me, it was still very tiring.

The weekend was capped with a fantastically simple and delicious meal of pasta fagioli, using the sweetest tomatoes I have ever had and fresh cranberry beans. All the ingredients were grown at a nearby place called Wilson Farms.  Talk about eating/buying local!