My first time climbing outdoors was with a guided EMS group in New Hampshire at Pinkham Notch. I had to really work to overcome my fear of heights but it was a blast. Months later, I started climbing indoors at the Metro Rock indoor gym. At first it was a pretty irregularly, at most once a week. Then it became every week and then a couple of times a week and before I knew it, I was taking the lead climbing class and heading up to Rumney to try leading outside the next weekend.
I was getting pretty comfortable with sport climbing but my next big development came when I visited my friend Doug in Seattle in July of 2009. We did a five day climbing tour that was absolutely incredible. I learned a lot from him and got to experience some awesome traditional climbing in Washington state as well as Squamish in British Columbia. I did my first trad lead at Leavenworth and from then on I was pretty much hooked.
I put together my own climbing rack and started learning about anchors, protection, and general rope skills. I ended up climbing a lot of easier trad routes with my friend Liam. Many of these were preparation for my goal of climbing High Exposure in the Gunks. We achieved this together with our friend Ethan on November 3, 2009 and I still think it was one of my favorite climbs to date. I really think that route changed me. It's hard to put into words what I mean but being able to lead that route really meant I had conquered a big part of my internal fears and doubts. And that is really a huge part of why I love climbing - for me it's a way to set a goal and work towards it and in the process overcome my own weaknesses, both mental and physical.
I hope to keep climbing for many years to come and I definitely have a lot of places all over the world that I would love to experience. Onwards to adventure!
Pal 04.27.10
© Pal Pocsi 2004