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Lead Climbing College Essay

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Rock climbing is a bizarre choice of sport for someone who’s scrawny, 5’ 3”, and, most importantly, afraid of heights. I think that’s why I was drawn to it. I’m, by nature, a very nervous person. I worry about the future, I worry about the past, I worry about other people: that they’re thinking about me, or that they’re not. I worry myself into panic attacks that leave me hyperventilating on the ground, shaking like a leaf with pure epinephrine running through my veins. It was that type of panic that struck me my first time lead climbing. Lead climbing is similar to the type of climbing that most people are familiar with, top-roping, in that it involves a rope and a harness and a belayer, however in other ways, lead climbing is completely different. Top-roping means that at the start of the climb, both the belayer and the climber are attached to either end of a rope that is anchored at the top of the wall. This means that the climber doesn’t have to do anything while on the climb to deal with safety. It also means that if a top-roping climber falls, they will only drop one or two feet before the rope pulls taut. …show more content…

The climber has to set their own temporary anchors as they climb, which means that during most of the climb, climbers will actually be above their last anchor. This puts a lot more pressure on the climber, because if they mess up, they could die. That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about it: the satisfying feeling of self-reliance, of taking your own life into your hands, and trusting yourself to make the right decisions. The way lead climbing works also means that falls are a lot longer, because, for example, if a climber is five feet above their last anchor, they’ll fall at least ten feet, due to all the slack in the rope, before catching violently and swinging back into the

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