Yesterday and for the first time ever I made it to the top of my climbing rope, climbing hand-over-hand without using my feet! It helped to rub magic dust on my hands to make the rope less slippery.
We didn’t have a video cam ready. I wasn’t even planning to climb because I had a tweaked shoulder from lifting on Friday. But my friend Rich (an ex circus clown) came over to try it. He noticed how slippery the rope was and mentioned rosin. Instead of nodding my head and doing nothing else like I’ve done every time someone’s mentioned chalk or rosin, I remembered that I had a bag of rock climbing mystery chemical right inside the house. I grabbed it and it worked a treat, as Judge Dredd would say.
Gina got very excited when she saw I was about to make this personal record that I’ve been craving ever since, well, childhood. She cheered me on and reminded me to touch the branch (it’s like ringing a bell).
Now I have to measure the rope. I think it’s about 15 feet high. If I climb to the top and measure in cubits on the way down (easy to do because my arms are right there), I can convert to feet, meters, etc.
Besides Rich and Gina, Jenny witnessed my ascent, too. Plus three dogs, but they won’t tell you anything.
