Sunday, September 28, 2014

Saved Sandstone Fest

The forecast for the weekend looked almost too good to be true, especially for northern MN.  Highs in the 70's and even up to the 80's, sun, yet still those incredible splashes of fall colors everywhere!

I told myself that I would spend Saturday outside having fun with friends, and today, Sunday, I have to stay inside to get things done.

So yesterday, I headed down to Sandstone, MN, for the Saved Sandstone Fest put on by the Minnesota Climber's Association!
I went with my climbing friend Jesse, and we met up with my long-time friend Steve (we call him Bug) from the Twin Cities for a fantastic day getting on some boulders.

I normally don't like bouldering, but Jesse is a huge fan, so I decided to push my comfort zone a little bit for the day and leave my rope on the ground!  I tried several problems up to V5- specifically, "The Best V5 in Minnesota"!

I'll admit, it took a few warm-up problems for me to get truly comfortable bouldering again, but I eventually eased back in to it.  Jesse and Steve were really good at being supportive when I felt like backing down, and I definitely was pushing my comfort zone.

It's really kind of backward- I'm way more comfortable on the end of a rope, high above a piece of gear, facing a large fall possibility.  Instead, I get nervous when I'm barely 7 feet off the ground, working a tough bouldering problem.  A large part of that is definitely how nervous I am that I might knock a kneecap out of the socket from a fall, since my knees are not the greatest.  I feel much better when I have gear and a rope on me, no matter the fall potential.
It was still a ton of fun, despite my mental nervousness.  Later in the evening, we enjoyed oven-cooked pizza, and I got to meet up with other friends!

(Seeing one of my lady climber friends, Adelle)

(The entire gang!  Jesse, Me, Bug, Adelle, and Justin, happy to hang out on such a gorgeous fall day!)
It was a great day out, and even though I'm stuck inside doing grading and school stuff today, it was fantastic to spend at least one day out.  :)

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