Last week was a really big week for me in terms of climbing. I finally got the chance to do my first multi-pitch climb. If you aren't familiar with climbing, we refer to a stretch of wall that is about half of a rope's length as a 'pitch'. This means that a pitch is usually about 100 feet (30 meters). If you are single-pitch climbing, then this is enough rope to go to the top and safely lower you back down. If you want to do walls longer than 100 ft, then you need to start doing something called multi-pitching. You climb to the top of the route and then the person at the top belays their partner up. Once both people are at the top, then they start climbing up again. In the image, you can see my girlfriend, Rachel, belaying me as I climb up the third pitch of this route.
This trip was in Linville Gorge in NC, and it was a best-case scenario for us. The weather was great, we did some fun climbs, and my friend Jason worked as our guide. He owns the Atlanta Rock Climbing Company and was great at taking over all safety for us and taking these cool pictures. As someone who loves the adventurous side of climbing and has been climbing for over half a decade, it was great to finally go out and do climbing in one of its purest forms. I had a great time and can't wait to start getting into it more. I plan on starting to take lessons so that I can start guiding my own friends on multi-pitches.
--2021-10-01