LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/870890
30 Fall 2017 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk the entire time I was climbing. The rope was routed through the top anchor and hooked to both myself and Ziggy, who was acting as the belayer. The belaying technique allows a person (in this case, stand- ing on the ground) to exert and release tension on the rope as it is being used by the climber. If the climber starts to fall, the belayer exerts tension on the rope to prevent a person from falling. As I stood there on the ground, all harnessed in and ready to go, I had to take a deep breath and push my fears aside. When I got the confirmation that it was okay to climb, I looked up at the 40 -foot wall in front of me The first time climbing, I pulled up with my arms, and with my palms sweating profusely from the fear… Well, I didn't even reach the top. As soon as my feet touched back down on the ground, Ziggy gave me some really good advice: "Use your legs to push up, and tr y not to pull yourself up with your arms. That's the most efficient way." He then handed me a bag of chalk, and I put what was prob- ably an excess amount on my hands. The chalk is used to dr y up the sweat and give the climber a better grip on the rocks. When I got back up for the second time, I emphasized using my legs to really get the power to scale the wall. Incredibly, when I channeled my energy through my legs, not my arms, I was climbing the wall with much more ease. If I were to fall at any point, Ziggy would take his hand and jolt it downward, locking the rope with the belay device, and preventing me from going anywhere. To bring me down, he slowly let the rope slide through the belay device and con- trolled my decent with his "brake" hand. I was lowered to the ground at a steady pace without any steep drops. When I finally reached the top of the rock-climbing wall that day, a feeling of satisfaction washed over me. It was a thrill climbing the wall, but it was even more satisf ying look- ing down, and realizing how far I had climbed. Just complet- ing that feat, and making it back down to the ground, made me realize I had the ability to overcome my fear of heights.