Some people go to their 10 year high school reunions to "catch up" with people from their past. Not me. I go to my 10 year "climbing reunion". As of this summer, it had been ten years since I had retired and totally disappeared from the climbing scene. Honestly, even though, for several years now, I had been thinking about going back and seeing everyone from my climbing days, I had no idea how that might happen.
As soon as I heard about Psicocomp being held in the US for the first time ever, though, I knew this was the moment for my "climbing reunion". Psicocomp, a deep water soloing climbing competition, played to my strengths of being a quick, powerful climber and my love of heights so, it would be a fun experience for me. Plus, it was being held during the biggest gathering of everyone in the outdoor industry, the Outdoor Retailer Trade Show in July. Truthfully, I was scared about what everyone's reaction to me would be, and had lots of second thoughts. But, I went through with it and said YES to taking part in this event. Thankfully, my good friend, Angie, agreed to go with me as a sort of friend-manager. She kept me calm and organized all week and I am very indebted to her for all that she did.
As soon as I heard about Psicocomp being held in the US for the first time ever, though, I knew this was the moment for my "climbing reunion". Psicocomp, a deep water soloing climbing competition, played to my strengths of being a quick, powerful climber and my love of heights so, it would be a fun experience for me. Plus, it was being held during the biggest gathering of everyone in the outdoor industry, the Outdoor Retailer Trade Show in July. Truthfully, I was scared about what everyone's reaction to me would be, and had lots of second thoughts. But, I went through with it and said YES to taking part in this event. Thankfully, my good friend, Angie, agreed to go with me as a sort of friend-manager. She kept me calm and organized all week and I am very indebted to her for all that she did.
At the competition, I was pleasantly surprised by the welcome I received from my fellow competitors. The ones who had never met me were friendly and inclusive. From what I saw, the new generation of female climbers is AMAZING. I loved meeting and hanging out with them. They have so much positive energy. It was also an incredible experience reconnecting with the climbers I had known from my younger competition days; some I had known since I was 11. We enjoyed catching up on everyone's "journey" over the last 10 years...from Everest to Vanderbilt! What was the most awesome thing about it all, was that the competition was completely secondary to the camaraderie at the event. One particular highlight for me was finally getting to meet climbing legend, Lynn Hill. It was fun to chat with her for awhile and find that we shared some similar perspectives on the sport and our roles in it.
Outside of the competition, while I was at the trade show, I was a bit overwhelmed. I tried to stop in and say hi to old friends, but most people were really busy in meetings much of the time. So, I walked around and watched everything going on. Some of my observations were...
-the sport has become much more commercial in the past 10 years.
-many of the faces and names have not changed even though a decade has passed.
-it's still a "scene" with people vying for "attention" in all sorts of ways (some, good...some, not so much so, lol).
In the end, the combination of being at the OR trade show and competing in Psicocomp was the "perfect climbing reunion" for me. No, I am not coming out of retirement to compete again. In fact, the whole experience made me even more sure of my decision to retire 10 years ago. I enjoy my "big girl job" and my quiet life in the wonderful mountain town of Steamboat Springs too much to give them up. Instead, I embrace my role of cheering from the sidelines as new girls take the lead in this sport that I love. From now on, I'm sticking to mentoring, coaching and climbing... just for fun.
Finally I want to give a huge SHOUT OUT to Boreal, So Ill Holds and Krieg Climbing for giving me passes to the show, shoes to climb in, chalk bags to replace the ones that got wet every time I climbed and cool shwag to wear! ...and one more shout out to Chris Sharma and everyone else associated with Psicocomp, for putting on a fun, exciting competition. This "reunion" would not have been possible without all of you!!
(Below are two videos of what a "psicocomp" looks like! The wall was 55 feet high. We did not have ropes. So, when we fell, we fell into a pool of water! It was REALLY A BLAST!)
-the sport has become much more commercial in the past 10 years.
-many of the faces and names have not changed even though a decade has passed.
-it's still a "scene" with people vying for "attention" in all sorts of ways (some, good...some, not so much so, lol).
In the end, the combination of being at the OR trade show and competing in Psicocomp was the "perfect climbing reunion" for me. No, I am not coming out of retirement to compete again. In fact, the whole experience made me even more sure of my decision to retire 10 years ago. I enjoy my "big girl job" and my quiet life in the wonderful mountain town of Steamboat Springs too much to give them up. Instead, I embrace my role of cheering from the sidelines as new girls take the lead in this sport that I love. From now on, I'm sticking to mentoring, coaching and climbing... just for fun.
Finally I want to give a huge SHOUT OUT to Boreal, So Ill Holds and Krieg Climbing for giving me passes to the show, shoes to climb in, chalk bags to replace the ones that got wet every time I climbed and cool shwag to wear! ...and one more shout out to Chris Sharma and everyone else associated with Psicocomp, for putting on a fun, exciting competition. This "reunion" would not have been possible without all of you!!
(Below are two videos of what a "psicocomp" looks like! The wall was 55 feet high. We did not have ropes. So, when we fell, we fell into a pool of water! It was REALLY A BLAST!)
RSS Feed