I am leader, hear me roar! Today I am a leader. As I have stated before I am usually a follower. I enjoying following people, being led around but today I am a leader. I am the one in front, I am the one paving the way for the one's behind me, setting new routes so those with me may follow me up my conquest.
Now I haven't always been a leader, I again am usually the follower, but in the right setting, in the right places and with the right gear, I am the leader.
Let me explain. With being the follower I am usually cleaning my leaders gear out of the rock and bringing it back to them, kind of like the golden retriever of the rock. Every now and then I do like to reverse the roll. That time had come. I am a leader of sport, another form of climbing where the gear is bolted into place on the rock, all I have to do is tail a rope behind me and clip these bolts up the rock. The consequences are still great for falling, example being if you fall before the next bolt, you are falling the height you are above the bolt plus the amount of rope you have behind you until you stop, usually 10 to 15 feet. Not too dangerous but nerve racking enough you have to think about being the leader.
As all great leaders do, they question their conquests. I have never questioned my conquest, just the strength in my little fingers. Most of the harder leads require a fair amount of finger strength as well as delicate foot work. Let's compare sport climbing to tap dancing. You are precise with your motions, dancing around trying to find your rhythm, moving with such intricacies you are dancing with the rock, moving to and fro, engulfed in the rhythm that is the climb. Now the ability to get up the rock depends on how much you actually find your rhythm. Questioning the climb means questioning yourself, questioning yourself. Questioning yourself means questioning your ability and questioning your ability make you wonder if you will ever be a good leader or even a great leader.
I like to fashion myself as a good leader. I like the thrill of knowing I am the first one up and making my own way. I like the challenge that comes with dancing with the rock and hoping I, literally, come out on top. I like pushing my limits and seeing how hard I can climb before I get defeated, and when i get defeated I get back on and climb again till either I win or the rock defeats me for the day.
My leadership abilities have grown greatly over the past few years. I was always been a timid leader, only leading what I knew I could, afraid to fall or fail. I learned that to get anywhere I needed to push my limits, escape myself and constantly challenge myself, seeing where it takes me. Since taking this mind set on I have been climbing harder than I ever imagined and leading climbs I never imagined I would.
I am a leader. I set goals for myself and conquer those challenges. If I fail, I have only fallen so far and I get right back on and try again. So far I have climbed, conquered, and danced my way up all the challenges I set for myself. I have set some lofty, so to speak, goals and enlisted friends to help me conquer them , for that, I am a leader. I may not be a great leader, but in my mind, I am a good leader on my way to my own greatness.
(pictures to follow)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I Follow
I FOLLOW
My name is Gwen and I am a follower. I have many friends who are leaders, some are better leaders than other, but myself, I am a follower. I have never been one to stand up and volunteer myself to be first, to lead the way, to show others how it is done. I have always been content to sit back and let everyone else do the work while I clean up the remnants.
Now you are probably reading this wondering what the hell is she talking about? No one is happy being a follower. Or you are reading this thinking I too am a follower, happily stuck in the back. Before you start jumping to conclusions thinking I am a sheep, let me explain why I like to be a follower.
I am a rock climber. Not enough explanation? Let me elaborate. I love to rock climb, it’s possibly my favorite summer sport. There is nothing better than sitting on top of an 800ft cliff, looking out over everything around you and knowing you just conquered something most people will never do in their lifetime. For those of you that do climb, you know what I am talking about. Let me explain a little further, I will warn you, for anyone who has a fear of heights or get squeamish at the mention of anything higher than your second floor bedroom, you should stop reading here.
Rock climbing is a sport where you literally are putting your life in someone else’s hands. You are strapped into a contraption similar to the Johnny Jump Up’s we had as a kid, only slightly more comfortable. There are many options of failures such as your harness not being doubled back in no less than three spots. Should one of these points fail, you aren’t going to die but you significantly increase your chances of getting hurt. Next there is your partner, you like to think that you trust this person with your life, but again there are many options for failure with the person you are with such as, oh let’s say a brain fart while you are half way up and fall and they are spaced out, intrigued by the fly’s mating. There is also your shoes falling apart, the roping being old and worn, the rock being sharp, smooth, wet, liken covered or just plain falling apart in your hands, just to name a few.
All seriousness aside, climbing is wonderful sport that combines the excitement of extreme sports with the intricacies of a ballet dancer. It’s very much like being a marionette, most of the time you are suspended on a rope, dancing around hoping the dance you are creating doesn’t look too much like you are fish out of water, flopping around trying to find any hope of getting back in the water or in this case, back on the rock. It combines precise foot work, balance and a great sense of your surroundings, oh yeah and an extreme amount of trust.
But I digress. Let me get back to why I am a follower. I, like many climbers, look at a rock and wonder if it’s possible to climb on it. But unlike many climbers, unless there are bolts pre-placed on the rock, I am not pulling the car over, jumping out and running over to see what the crack system looks like. This is where I become the follower. I have never learned to place gear in a rock crack, nor have I really had the desire to learn. There is something kind of scary about placing your own protection in the rock hoping it will hold if you fall. If it doesn’t you are falling down to the next piece of gear you placed hoping it too will hold, all the time hoping that the person on the end of your rope is going to stop your fall once you hit the piece of gear that stays in the rock. Sound fun? To those that lead it is, and it’s not always as scary as I am making it sound. But again, this is why I like to be a follower.
Now don’t get me wrong, it takes climbing to a whole new level of excitement. Being able to jump out of the car or hike way back to unseen mountains and have the ability to scale them is awesome, but I prefer to be the sheep. I love the thrill of having the rope attached to me and knowing if I fall I just have to worry about the person on the other end stopping my fall. To me, going up the rock crack and seeing all the hard work that someone, much more mentally strong than I, had put into it is very satisfactory. I praise that person at the top and commend them on being a great leader while I take the accolades for being a great follower. This is why I climb.
Now this isn’t to say that I am always content being a follower, I am also a leader, just in a different aspect of the sport known as sport climbing, but this isn’t about me being a leader, it’s about me being in the shadow of those braver than I.
The area in which I live is very contusive to the leader mentality. Leaders and followers alike flock from all over the world for a chance to climb on what is in my back yard. It is an impressive site to see how many people actually do and love this sport. It’s not a sport you become rich and famous for, unless you are the best of the best of the best and they are out there. This is a recreational sport, one to push the limits of your mind, body and amount of daylight.
So to those of you who are leaders, I commend you. I love to be your sheep, your cleaner upper, the person at the other end of your rope. Me I am happy to go out every chance I get and follow you up that rock face and commend you on a job well done.
LEADER FOLLOWER
My name is Gwen and I am a follower. I have many friends who are leaders, some are better leaders than other, but myself, I am a follower. I have never been one to stand up and volunteer myself to be first, to lead the way, to show others how it is done. I have always been content to sit back and let everyone else do the work while I clean up the remnants.
Now you are probably reading this wondering what the hell is she talking about? No one is happy being a follower. Or you are reading this thinking I too am a follower, happily stuck in the back. Before you start jumping to conclusions thinking I am a sheep, let me explain why I like to be a follower.
I am a rock climber. Not enough explanation? Let me elaborate. I love to rock climb, it’s possibly my favorite summer sport. There is nothing better than sitting on top of an 800ft cliff, looking out over everything around you and knowing you just conquered something most people will never do in their lifetime. For those of you that do climb, you know what I am talking about. Let me explain a little further, I will warn you, for anyone who has a fear of heights or get squeamish at the mention of anything higher than your second floor bedroom, you should stop reading here.
Rock climbing is a sport where you literally are putting your life in someone else’s hands. You are strapped into a contraption similar to the Johnny Jump Up’s we had as a kid, only slightly more comfortable. There are many options of failures such as your harness not being doubled back in no less than three spots. Should one of these points fail, you aren’t going to die but you significantly increase your chances of getting hurt. Next there is your partner, you like to think that you trust this person with your life, but again there are many options for failure with the person you are with such as, oh let’s say a brain fart while you are half way up and fall and they are spaced out, intrigued by the fly’s mating. There is also your shoes falling apart, the roping being old and worn, the rock being sharp, smooth, wet, liken covered or just plain falling apart in your hands, just to name a few.
All seriousness aside, climbing is wonderful sport that combines the excitement of extreme sports with the intricacies of a ballet dancer. It’s very much like being a marionette, most of the time you are suspended on a rope, dancing around hoping the dance you are creating doesn’t look too much like you are fish out of water, flopping around trying to find any hope of getting back in the water or in this case, back on the rock. It combines precise foot work, balance and a great sense of your surroundings, oh yeah and an extreme amount of trust.
But I digress. Let me get back to why I am a follower. I, like many climbers, look at a rock and wonder if it’s possible to climb on it. But unlike many climbers, unless there are bolts pre-placed on the rock, I am not pulling the car over, jumping out and running over to see what the crack system looks like. This is where I become the follower. I have never learned to place gear in a rock crack, nor have I really had the desire to learn. There is something kind of scary about placing your own protection in the rock hoping it will hold if you fall. If it doesn’t you are falling down to the next piece of gear you placed hoping it too will hold, all the time hoping that the person on the end of your rope is going to stop your fall once you hit the piece of gear that stays in the rock. Sound fun? To those that lead it is, and it’s not always as scary as I am making it sound. But again, this is why I like to be a follower.
Now don’t get me wrong, it takes climbing to a whole new level of excitement. Being able to jump out of the car or hike way back to unseen mountains and have the ability to scale them is awesome, but I prefer to be the sheep. I love the thrill of having the rope attached to me and knowing if I fall I just have to worry about the person on the other end stopping my fall. To me, going up the rock crack and seeing all the hard work that someone, much more mentally strong than I, had put into it is very satisfactory. I praise that person at the top and commend them on being a great leader while I take the accolades for being a great follower. This is why I climb.
Now this isn’t to say that I am always content being a follower, I am also a leader, just in a different aspect of the sport known as sport climbing, but this isn’t about me being a leader, it’s about me being in the shadow of those braver than I.
The area in which I live is very contusive to the leader mentality. Leaders and followers alike flock from all over the world for a chance to climb on what is in my back yard. It is an impressive site to see how many people actually do and love this sport. It’s not a sport you become rich and famous for, unless you are the best of the best of the best and they are out there. This is a recreational sport, one to push the limits of your mind, body and amount of daylight.
So to those of you who are leaders, I commend you. I love to be your sheep, your cleaner upper, the person at the other end of your rope. Me I am happy to go out every chance I get and follow you up that rock face and commend you on a job well done.
LEADER FOLLOWER
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