Rock Steady!

I would not call myself an “adrenaline junkie”. Taking a calculated risk is more my thing. Do not get me wrong, some of my mates are really into throwing themselves at any challenge even if the odds appear to be stacked so high against them that it would turn your hair white, but that is not really where I’m coming from. Adventure yes, putting your head into the mouth of a hungry lion and tickling his belly no. That’s my motto, or at least it would be if I could fit it on a coat of arms. No, I love rock climbing, but it’s got to be with all the equipment checked before setting off, then on arrival, and then double checked for absolute certainty. I am sure there is plenty of adrenaline involved in climbing without ropes, but you know what? There is adrenaline involved even if you use ropes, and this way you get to keep it all inside your body.

Along with a group of my (saner) friends, I went to Mount Arapiles a couple of months back. I’ve seen video footage of people doing it before, and it caught my attention. It just looked right up my street, so a few phone calls later we were planning out the trip between ourselves and I was going to sleep every night, to dream of the greatest vertical climb I have yet planned. On the day of the big climb I was out of bed at 5am. I have never been so hyped for a climb. We met up outside the Post Office in town and all got into my mate Tyler’s 4 x 4 and then off we went. We arrived at the mountain a few hours later and, after some limbering up, set off to the base to begin our climb.

I’d purchased supplies on the day that the trip was first planned. Patience may be a virtue, but I’ve never had much time for patience and I’ve never been particularly virtuous. If there is something to be done, I want to do it immediately. Now, that may sound headstrong, but risk assessment seems to be something I do automatically. No-one will ever be able to trick me into doing something daft just because I don’t have the patience to wait things out. I think of something, I plan, and then I want to go. I have never enjoyed sitting around when I could be doing stuff.

The supplies came in useful, it would have to be said. I was about halfway to my destination when I lost my footing and my hand banged against the rocks. Nothing was broken, I could tell that much quickly, but I had a doozy of a gash there. I reached back into my backpack and pulled out the Israel Gear Hydration Pack that was stashed in there, and washed out the cut. I bandaged myself up and continued climbing. Well, I had to get to the top, didn’t I? I could not leave that bit waiting.

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