I’m really not a Shakespeare nut, but there’s a classic route in Kootenai Canyon just south of town with the same name. It’s long (33m) and reasonably hard (5.11b), and sometimes confusing. In a good way that’s kinda like life. Skiing Gash point on Sunday pointed to a few more of those lessons.
Sometimes life really bucks your expectations.
Walking with skis wasn’t the plan. Simon and Martin smile anyway and keep going.
Or maybe, you can’t see where you are going at all. Things feel cold and scary, and you wonder why you make the choices that you do.
Looking into a different sort of tempest. Simon and Madison evaluate the “spring skiing” on Gash Point.
But we smiled into it, and kept going. The cool thing I’ve noticed is that when that is the mantra, good things generally happen. It’s hard for me to admit that sometimes and I don’t know why.
“Huh… look at all that fluffy stuff.”
(the skiing was really quite nice after all on Sunday)
Life can feel like a tempest sometimes- one that tends to obscure the important parts of ourselves, and our lives as part of our communities. Getting outside is what clears my head and gets me operating properly again.
It’s suddenly a beautiful spring in Missoula. The Tempest (climbing route) has been on my tick list since I first heard about it, but I’ve only touched it once. That first time humbled me, and I’ve avoided it ever since. I promised myself it would be a project this year. Just before I left home this morning I looked at the weather and texted my good friend Michael about climbing outside after work. I didn’t want to avoid looking at the route any more. We stole out a little early, warmed up, and got right to it.
Michael clears the lower turbulence on the route.
I surprised myself when I hung all the draws without falling off. I can’t call it my first project of the season, because it only took me one go to send it cleanly. The send matters less than the lesson: with preparation, willingness, and a clear head things aren’t always so hard as they might seem.
It’s gonna be a good season.
“The only real limits are the ones we create in our own minds.”
