Are you terrified of heights? Then perhaps you, too, would like to start lead climbing in the gym, where you will take falls of ten or twelve feet or so while hoping your friend keeps you from hitting the ground! Even more terrifying, perhaps you would like to be solely responsible for keeping your friend from hitting the ground while her feet plummet directly toward your head!
I have long considered any outdoor climb to be a failure if I don’t get scared and/or frustrated enough to think to myself at some point, “Why am I even doing this? No one is making me do this!” Last night at the gym, Emily and I spent a lot of time verbalizing that exact thought. Why are we doing this? This is stressful and terrifying! But we passed our test with flying colors — both of us give a “textbook soft catch,” hooray for us and anyone we belay — and then realized that passing the test just means we have to lead more.
