Wholistic Fitness

“Come, Noble Daughter!   The GREAT NORTH WALLS AWAIT US!”  ilg shouted to Dewa at her mom’s house this morning…

My daughters first glimpse of The Watch Crystal at East Animas in her h(om)etown of Durango, Colorado…

absolutely beyond Honored and DEEEEPLY EMOTIONAL to be 64 and still be introducing such iconic climbing experiences for my Precious Daughter… 

you see, Noble Warrior?  the phrase, “The Great North Walls Awaits Us!” is how my precious now dead (I think) main climbing partner from the early eighties into the early nineties who was also ilg’s deepest and bff, and my brother from another mother, Ben Greene would greet each other in Boulder before yet another day climbing from sun up to sun down when we could and?  when school was bugging our absolutely pioneering true DirtBag lifestyle becoming ?    we would still greet each other after the
predictable stupidity of school ended and we could FINALLY, once AGAIN!??!  CLIMB!!!!

CLIMBING WAS ALL THAT MATTERED!!!!

kinda forget who OG said that phrase,  yet it was recollected from ilgs 100% obsession with ALL HISTORY of Climbing… yet that phrase, “Come!  The Great North Walls Await Us!” is eon-ironed branded into ilgs head… might have been Whymper?  Joe Brown?  anyone know?  lmk in the comments!

My daughter seems to have inherited ilgs genetic makeup that results in being totally kinked out
at trad lead climbing… literally the LEAST DONE ACTIVITY in all of outdoor sports,
let alone women!   

we made the approach to the base of the Watch Crystal – plus a side trip to the Boundary Line Wall whereupon we saw several enticing lines to keep in mind  – and Dewa was astounded by the immense Sandstone Climbing Palace In Which To Play in her own backyard.   Don’t tell anyone, yet?  Still?  Ilgs h(om)etown of Durango, Colorado beneath the Dinè Sacred Peak Of The North; Dibé Nítsàà ?    still remains the most wholistic bubble for ANY genuine Warrior of High Mountain Sports..

ilg led this “5.6” route with Dewa belaying.  NOT 5.6.  another predicatable Durango sandbag… in Mountain Project, they sell this as an easy enjoyable trad lead for beginner climbers.

no>

the first fucking unprotected move off of stacked cheater blocks is solid V0/1 which immediately puts it out of “an easy 5.6”

Calypso? in Eldo?  yeah,  that is a TRUE classic 5.6.

anyway,  led it.  overprotected it.  dusting off decades of trad lead climbing as ilg ascended while being belayed by my daughter.  each foothold, each placement of gear,  rockets ilg through decades of being one of America’s first
fully sponsored climbers… now struggling on a 5.6 in front of my daughter….

got it led!   Yellow Pages, 5.6 Trad. tick!
THEN
after Dewa followed it with Her hallmark poetic, creative climbing movement matched with her fearless mental tenacity?
ilg set up a stick clip off a bolt for Dewa to faux Lead Climb another “5.6” (NOT fucking 5.6!!”) called White Pages…
sooo much learning!
watching Her place her first trad pieces on Lead!??!  even if with a TR!??!
watching Her struggle to find the right sized piece… place it… realizing she just place her protection exactly where she need to place her next hand jam to go higher… Her calves burning,  Her forearms fatiguing while desperate to place her
next piece!?!?

omg

she is LEARNING what Trad Lead Climbingis ALL about!!!

Feeble Ilg:  So, Precious First Daughter?
Dewa:  Yeah, Dad?
FI:   what was your most important take away fr(om) today’s intense Lead Climbing today?  I mean, the Stats are crazy!   less than .000009% of 18 year old females have EVER been on the Sharp End of a Trad Climb…
D:  oh man, Dad… lowkey?  Patience and Perseverance… how HARD it is to forethink, place protection, be willing to FALL ONTO the very protection YOU placed!?!   omg…Trad Climbing is sooo much harder than what
I thought it would be! THANK YOU DAD for teaching me so safely in this extreme sport!”
FI: it’s been an honor, First Lieutenant!  you hungry!?
D:  omg, you have no idea!
FI:  where do you want to go?

D:  Grassburgers!
FI:  you got it, begirl… let’s GO!  YOU EARNED IT!

END NOTE:

hours after our precious Focused Fun and Sacred Sweat in God’s GREAT PERFECT NATURE;  we struggled to regain our footing in this Kali Yuga Outer World..

ilg asked,

“Hey D?!”
“Yeah Dad?”
“Do you even KNOW what “Yellow Pages” and “White Pages” refer to?”
“uhhh, no idea”
ilg pauses…breathing into the massive generational gaps between myself and my own daughter…

only thing ilg can come up with is,
“Ask Mommy”