Monday, December 17, 2007

Skills Every Girl Should Know

On my list of skills to acquire is now ice climbing. Chicks with Picks website is absolutely fabulous and is completely inspiring me to learn how. So what that I have a small, but growing fear of heights? I am moving on, pushing myself ahead. Just last fall I participated in a day of multi pitch rock climbing with my friend Michelle. On or around the third pitch, I exemplified why I should never open my big mouth and jinx myself.

I had asked our guide “What would happen if I dropped this?” holding up the ATC device we had been using for belaying.

“Oh it would be a little more challenging, but I could use a munter hitch and a beaner or I could use…” I stopped listening right about then because I believed him. I mean his name was Conrad after all. Wasn’t Conrad Anker a world famous climber? Okay so although our guide was not the Conrad Anker, he was an excellent climber named Conrad and that was close enough for me.

So we boogied on up the climb, where roughly five or ten minutes later, long enough for us to forget about my silly little question, I decide to take a swig of my water. Little had I realized that the beaner I was unclipping was not in fact my water bottle, but rather my ATC device.

Shiiiiiitttttttttt!!! I yelled as we all watched the ATC device fall for like an hour. So yes, I jinxed us and yes I learned what a munter hitch was used for. Now I am ready to try ice climbing where I will not, at any time, ask the “what if?” question.

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