Rock Climbing at Mount Yonah

When I decided to go to Mount Yonah, I was (once again) in over my head. I had been rock climbing inside a few times but outdoors was an entirely new concept to me. Advertised as a beginner rock climbing trip, I decided that this was as good a time as ever to go for it. At this point, I didn't have any of my own rock climbing gear, but the club has harnesses and even a pair of women's climbing shoes that just so happened to be my size. They also just so happened to have a giant hole in the toe of one of the shoes, so I sacrificed a sock that weekend for the sake of climbing. We arrived at the parking lot around 2 AM or so but that wasn't the end of the night. We had to hike about two miles uphill, almost to the top of the mountain. A novice climber and hiker, I thought nothing of two miles and hiked the entire thing in flip flops, carrying a foam armory that I had purchased for the trip from the dollar section at Target in addition to the rest of my gear. Somehow, I aced the hike and was the first of my group to arrive at the top by a long shot. When I returned to Mount Yonah this past semester, I found myself sprinting ahead again with unlikely energy. 

The campsite was just a short hike away from the climbing wall. I was up and ready to go, so I followed Jeff and some of the other more experienced climbers toward the wall. What I didn't realize was that they were heading to the top to set up the ropes and rappelling down to the bottom of the climbing wall. I had no idea what a rappel was or how to do it, so when Jeff offered the rope to me, I backed away and headed back down to camp. I found another group of climbers from OAR and we headed to the bottom of the wall together. Though the views were spectacular, I was terrified of where we had set up. To get to the climbing, we had to scramble up several large boulders and hold on to a metal cable for support. We saw some Boy Scouts in the area who had clipped in to the metal cable for extra safety. We did not do that. Yet, I still headed up with everyone else, carrying foam swords and axes with the intention of having sword fights on the climbing wall while suspended from ropes. 

I knew nothing about the ratings of different rock climbing routes, which start around 5.4/5.5 and increase by 0.1 with difficulty, culminating in 5.15b. I think I was climbing 5.6s at this point but I didn't even know that. I just tied myself in and climbed. The adrenaline rush, mostly fueled by fear, was incredible. I loved it. I wanted to learn everything about rock climbing and I was asking questions about routes, gear, etc... I also liked the wall and sitting in the sun with my new friends. I hiked around the area briefly, taking in all the views.

The next day, we hiked down to a lower wall and climbed some more difficult routes. Perhaps I should specify: other people climbed harder routes, I mostly watched in awe. They also set up a rappel at the top that you could hike up to. It looked like fun but also terrifying. I had never rappelled before unless you count being lowered by my belayer after climbing, which I don't consider rappelling since someone else is in control of your actions. I finally garnered the courage to rappel. Carolanne helped me set up my harness and rappel device and encouraged me to step over the edge once she made sure I had doubled back all the straps, which I had not. This took a lot of convincing but once I was on rappel, I realized how safe I felt and how much fun I was having hanging on a rope several feet above the ground. I actually liked the control and the ability to go as quickly or as slowly as I wanted. Since then, I have rappelled over a 100 times and I still feel fear and adrenaline pulse through my body every time I step over the edge.   



Events occurred: October 7-9, 2011