Feelin' it

"Wanna watch some climbing porn tonight?" my friend Shannon asked in the middle of a soggy Corvallis winter, the kind where you bring waders for the trek from the car to the climbing gym.

Being a relative newbie to the so-called 'motivational tools' of gym rats, despite being one myself for, ahem, years, I said, "sure, what are we watching?"

"Marco's latest Dosage video."

Little did I know that would be the beginning of this: a chronicle of my quest for The Optimist.

Sent by a girl my size, my age and at my home crag. I feel it for the first time watching Beth Rodden grunt her way through the crux, throwing for sharp slopers and taking repeated whips off the same move. It took her six weeks. I'm planning on November of 2008, approximately 90 weeks.

For a solid 5.11 climber, that should be about right, right?

I've been climbing for 11 years. Went through the comp circuit, traveled, loved it, lost it, took time off and couldn't find anything comparable. I even considered weight lifting as an alternative, until I tried climbing again. That's who I am, what I do, the thing that keeps me sane and happy and scared and challenged. What could be better?

An impossible project.

5.14b. Unrepeated by any woman. Anyone? Hardest line sent by an American woman.

Pretty fuckin' awesome.