Sarah Jane Alexander's climbing blog

A frigid fog added to Sarah Jane’s frustrations.
Photo by Sarah Jane Alexander

While I was having my adventures in humiliation, the universe continued to laugh at me by pushing frigid fog over the rock. I hate being cold, hate, hate, hate. When that bone-chilling mist blew in, I was shivering, cursing and longing for a warm stocking cap.
About the only thing going right for me that day was some great belaying for my friends. I caught their falls effortlessly. When I am belaying, my total focus is on the climber. I want my friends to have confidence in my belaying so they can focus, feeling secure.
When we were ready to leave, I told my boys they were going to have to foist me up that offwidth till I could get some feet and climb it. The tone of my voice was nonchalant, but actually, I was horribly humiliated.
Which I told them when I emerged at the top.

Sarah Jane's most successful ascent was a
boulder that was so close to the ground on
the backside that even Leo sent it.
Photo by Cary Davis

“It just turned out to be a day of really hard climbs,” Cary said, trying to comfort me. As the evening set in, so did a little muscle ache. But the location and quality of the soreness were a silver lining in my day of disappointment.
The first time I went climbing, I was torturously sore in my pecs and forearms for a couple days. Which meant my technique sucked and my muscles were unhoned to the rigors of climbing. Well, actually I had no technique. I didn’t understand what my belayer meant when he kept yelling: “Use your legs!”
After this climb, my muscles ached slightly, a tiny bit in my pecs, but mostly in my hips, glutes and legs – which meant I had finally used them.

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