Avid4 Adventure Camper Story: The Rock Climb that Changed My Life

Hear a first-hand story about a Rock Climb from one of our campers, Katelyn Pratte, 6th Grade.

I stood on dry rocky ground, looking up at the top of the cliff. It seemed so far off. ‘Impossible. Impossible. Impossible!’ I told myself. My 3rd day of rock-climbing, and I still hadn’t reached to top of any of the rock climbs we had done. Each day, the new climbs seemed to grow harder, and harder, more impossible than the last.
“On belay?” I called
“Belay is on.” My instructor called back
“Climbing.” I said, putting my hands on the rough rock.

“Climb on.” The instructor’s response was my signal to start climbing. I felt around, my hands sliding across the hard rock, searching for a handhold.

First, my hands pulled me off the ground, and soon, my feet were digging into the rock as well. I climbed on, at a pace slower than a snail in water. For a moment, I would sit there, my hands trying to find anything to grab onto. With strength, I heaved myself up and placed my feet on new foot holders. Every now and then, my foot would slip, or the sweat on my hands would make the rock moist, and I would loose grip, only barely catching myself. Two steps forward, one step back. I climbed higher and higher, but still seemed to find myself less than ten feet off the ground. I imagined my instructor down there, bored to death, ready to fall asleep.

I climbed on, my hands and feet stretch out at odd angles, and clinging to the rock the best they could. I heaved myself up another foot, maybe two, when I found myself without a foothold. My only hope was to straddle both my feet against the two opposite boulders sticking out of the cliff. I lifted my feet as high as they could do, I was practically doing the splits, and to say one thing, I had never done the splits before, so it hurt. Like it really hurt. My hands reached up for anything, my left hand finding a nice crevice in the rock, my right, finding only smooth rock with nothing to grab onto except a centimeter or so long shelf in the rock. It was all I had. I sat in my straddle position, it still hurt like I never knew pain, as I positioned my right hand in a way that would give me even the slightest bit of grip. I looked up. Multiple perfect handholds loomed just above me, maybe a couple feet or so. I needed to get up there, just a couple more feet and I would be there. I used all the strength in my legs and arms, an heaved myself up as high as I could. I let go with my right hand, not that it was being helpful anyway, and reached as far up as I could. My hand barely brushed the nook in the rocks. I wasn’t up high enough to reach the handholds. My legs were killing me. I couldn’t hold it any longer. I gave one last effort, something I didn’t normally do. I pushed of my legs, practically jumping for the handhold. My fingers reached for the handhold. I started to fall. Yes I was clipped in, but it’s never the same when you’re falling from a tether more than ten feet off the ground. A falling sensation went through my body, from the top of my head all the way to the tips of my toes.

Then, suddenly, I stopped falling. I had a grip on that handhold. Somehow I had a grip. I reached my other hand up, finding another hold as my feet scrambled, trying to find somewhere to hold onto. Oh yeah. My feet still needed somewhere to hold onto. Almost forgot. The feeling of joy surged out of me as I realized that my feet had nowhere to go. Despondently, I realized that this could be the end of this climb. I was about to call out for my instructor to lower me when my friend called out, 

“Way to go! Keep going!” I looked down to see her cheering me on, a huge smile on her face. With all my might, I heaved myself up with just my arms, my right foot barely catching a hold, and soon after, my left foot was in place too. I smiled Thanks Sophia! I thought as I let my weight fall onto my legs. Higher I climbed, and I was feeling great except for what I knew was coming my way. I reached a section of boulders, and once I passed through them, I would be out of sight of my friend and instructor. The space between the boulders was infinitely small, and I could barely fit through them. I passed the first big boulder, and I was suddenly out of sight of everyone. I was on my own now. I looked ahead of me. The boulders obscured my view of the carabiner, of the top of the climb. I surged onward finding myself in a pace I would rather not be. I passed the dense forest of rocks, and soon came to an almost sheer cliff, the top of the climb being at the top of the 10 foot, greatly inclined rock. I started up.

This was the farthest I could ever gotten to the top. A third of the way up the inclined slope of rough rock, I slipped and scraped my knee against the hard rock. It hurt to bend. I would never make it in this condition. I looked back and started to call down to the instructor to lower me.

“Lower!” I called out, but my instructor couldn’t hear me at first. I was about to call out again when I realized that I had received one more chance to finish the climb. Funny, my knee stopped hurting right then as if to say, don’t worry, keep climbing! How ironic. I started up again with a new surge of energy, pushing past all that stood in my way. The carabiner was right there. I could reach out and touch it. I had made it. But my first victory wouldn’t be me straining to reach that carabiner, and eventually toughing it. No, it had to be much better. I climbed until the carabiner was just below my shoulder. I reached out. Feeling the hard cool metal of the carabiner sent pride a new strength though my body. I cheered. A cheer came from below. I touched the carabiner again, and again, and again until I had probably touched it at least ten times. I realized that I just had to push on, and the reward is amazing. I didn’t just touch my first carabiner, but the view up there was amazing.

It felt like I was alone, that whatever happened below me didn’t matter. Up there, I could get away from the world and all the disaster, and all the chaos. I felt absolutely, truly free. I didn’t want to go back down where the smell of sweat filled the air, and were other people pushed and shoved to be the next to climb. I wanted to stay up there where the air was fresh, and nobody was around to tell me what to do. I wanted to stay up there forever.

I continue rock climbing today, and because I managed to reach that one carabiner, my life was changed forever. You just have to believe in yourself, and push a little harder because the only difference between TRY and TRIUMPH is a little UMPH. This is my story. Now go make your own.

Katelyn Pratte wrote this story after participating in Avid4 Adventure’s Washington Park, Colorado – Rock Climbing Summer Camp. Enroll in a similar program this summer – Sign up before February 28th for our Early Bird Deal!

Tagged: Camper story, climbing, Colorado, Kids Climbing, Rock Climb, rock climbing