Jake, Courtney and I were having dinner with friends the other night when someone asked "why do you guys take such risks?" After exchanging puzzled looks, Jake's response was pretty smart...the risk is only perceived: working your way up a route, placing nuts and cams along the way, with a (hopefully) reliable belayer working the other end of the rope can't be that different than buckling a seat belt and turning the ignition. You can look at life as having danger lurking around every corner or you can take reasonable precautions and let it unfold.
I'm not much of a climber. I have the vertical reach of a hobbit, an even shorter attention span, and I can't fit into 90% of what Prahna manufactures. The only reason I know anything about climbing is from living 10 years in Boulder. I learned terms such as "pulling down" and "nasty flapper" so I could mock the annoying rock jocks surrounding me. But lately I've been thinking about climbing. I'm not under the illusion that climbing is without serious risks and consequences, though it is a progression of calculated risks, moving from protection piece to protection piece. You're as likely to see an engine fall off an aeroplane onto your house or to be struck by lightening before you were involved in a serious climbing related incident. I feel like life lately has been comprised of moving from cam to cam. Sometimes the run-outs are long. But I'm clipped in along the way. The belayer is attentive, relaxed, but ready. These are the realities that I have to remind myself of when I feel too far off the ground, when the bank account is low and why the hell does it take a client 8 weeks to pay an invoice, when I walk around a new town feeling strange like a stranger. That's when the connection points are nice. So thanks, all you nuts and cams. And The Belayer.
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