The World We Love

Yesterday I was hanging out by the lake, watching my dogs try out swimming (Star fell off the dock into the lake), when my mom called. She asked me what I had been up to (climbing) and whether I was happy with my decision to move to Tahoe for the summer. Happy would be an understatement. I have climbed 8 out of the past 10 days, I live with my best friend in one of the most beautiful places imaginable, a bunch of my favorite climbing partners have come to visit, my nights consist of cooking huge dinners with friends and enjoying conversations over beer, wine and climbing videos. Yes, I am happy.

My life in the past year has consisted of some climbing punctuated by short intervals of attending class. Somehow over the past school year I managed to amass 25,000 miles on my Honda CRV while still passing 45 units. While being a student/climber wasn’t so bad, I am psyched to be able to fully commit to pursuing my passion. I am forever a student, learning from the situations that I encounter in life, but now I am an explorer, an outdoor-lover, an adventurer, a nature-woman, a badass belayer, a shitty spotter, a bolt clipper, a gear placer, a granola bar grubber… a climber!

This is what life is about! Getting scared, getting psyched, living life in the best community that anyone could ask for. Yesterday my best buddy Alex and his best buddy Drew arrived in Tahoe. This is the first stop on their three month excursion into the world of rocks, as sponsored climbing bums for 27 Crags. Similarly to the arrival of my friend Ian last weekend, we all get so stoked that instead of words, all we can do is make sounds. “JKAHFEUIVN!!! AAJFKLDFLA!!! EEE! WHEEE!” What other community knows how to be so psyched together? In what other community can you meet some rando and trust them with your life? Our climbing partners are our lifeline; we get stoked together, suffer together, fail and succeed together. We are there for each other 100% in the ups and in the downs. Climbers are a different breed and to understand this, all you have to do is spend a day at the crag, and see all that is wrong with the world melt away. What you have left is a group of people who are somehow connected on a deep level, who are intensely passionate about this lifestyle, and who are joyous and friendly.

Living here, being surrounded by granite and amped climbers has renewed a stoke in me that I didn’t even know needed revival. I have always loved climbing, but these days I am in love with climbing, and I am being enveloped into the world of climbing, where my every thought is consumed by it. I have a project for the first time- something I am stoked to try again and again and take whippers off of and suffer for and make my belayer suffer for (thanks for the catch…again!), and eventually triumph on, enjoy the moment, and then find another climb to fall off.

Last night, the four of us, Chelsea, Drew, Alex and myself, couldn’t stop giggling and smiling as we talked about our lives and climbing over a few glasses of fine wine. We are living the ultimate life, pursuing our greatest passion among the greatest of people. I thank God for blessing me with this life, and my family for their unwavering support (my mom didn’t even hesitate when I told her I was taking time off from school to climb). When life gives you an opportunity, you take it. I am stoked to embark on this journey. 

The last thing I heard Alex say as we drifted off to sleep last night was, “livin’ the dream.”

Yes, that we are.