This is Mt. Olympus - fortunately for Aaron he did not point this out until we were done or I probably would have backed out. We headed up the white face on the right side.
So we didn't get many shots of the approach but this one should give you an idea of how it went...
Of course Aaron loved it!
After a little snacky-snack I was much happier. Aaron has learned to be liberal with the snacks - it's best for all involved.
And ready to tackle the mountain. Aaron, as always, is ready too.
We are off!
Ok, so we were not super great at getting shots along the way but it is at this point that you can possibly begin to feel my anxiety...
Ok, all joking aside, I did start to get super anxious about this time. You start to look around and yes it is amazing (!) but I started to think about how the crap we were going to get down and how much rescue the helicopter was going to cost. Aaron tried to take my mind off of these irrational thoughts by taking pictures of the number of pitches we had done up until that point. I wish we had done this the whole way and hopefully will do so on our next big wall climb.
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It took us a total of nine pitches from start to finish but since we only had two more (between my moments of panic and the top) it seems somewhat anticlimactic. But then you get a load of the view...
Absolutely amazing right?! The sky was so clear and it felt like we could see forever.
Going down was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. We just repelled down a side gully and "scooted" down a rock face. I can't tell you how many times while climbing the face I asked myself - how the crap did you marry someone who does this much less gets you to do it too! I am not what you might call the "overly adventurous type". Sure I use to get on roller coasters with the best of them but as I've gotten older I came to realize that the thrill just wasn't worth the puke that came afterwards. But here's the amazing thing - after this climb, there was no puke, metaphorical or otherwise. I think that is one of the most amazing things about being married to Aaron. He can push me to my adventurous limits while supporting me enough to see me succeed. I don't know if everyone gets to find that in a spouse but I'm so very glad I did.
And to celebrate my/our great accomplishment, I ate this day old donut - it was more satisfying then it should have been.
And last but not least, here's Stan.
