I have been hitting the rocks almost every weekend here. Sometimes, both Saturday and Sunday.  Lately, MyeongHee had come with me just to see what it was all about. Her ideas of rock climbing before seeing it were terrifying and she had no intention of ever doing it. She watched us climb on a couple of Sundays and decided it really wasn’t all that scary. I came off the rock on a 5.10c climb and fell no more than 2 feet before my belayer reeled things in.  I heard her suck in wind between her teeth in fright when I fell, but she realized that it was all ok.

This past weekend, she decided that she would try it. She trimmed her nails and put on one of the other climbers adjustable harness. She went in regular sneakers as no one had climbing shoes anywhere near the size of her dainty feet.  She climbed the first one, a 5.8 of about 13 meters, with only a little hesitation in the middle. We talked her through where and how to go and she was elated when she reached the top. She did the second one, beforebragging about how easy it would be. She was right. She scampered right up it. She did great, considering she didn’t even have the right shoes.

We went back into town right after coming off the mountain and I bought her a proper pair of climbing shoes. Looks like I have another climbing partner.