Rock and Mountain Climbing A passion for Extreme Life
Rock and Mountain Climbing
A passion for Extreme Life
By: Gabriela Ortiz
When somebody asks me about the things that I love to do, it immediately comes to my mind the mountains, forests, volcanoes, and waterfalls. Maybe you want to stay at home and take a rest. Actually I don’t think that’s a bad idea, but the thing is that I can’t avoid adventure. I can´t live without it.
One day after school, a friend of mine invited me to try some bouldering and I asked What’s that? Anyway, I went there. I could never imagine that I would continue climbing until now. I remember the first time that I tried it. It was so uncomfortable to wear those tiny shoes, I couldn’t pass the most difficult part and I felt the adrenaline when my partner took me back to safety to the floor again, using his special device “the ATC”.
My hands started to burn. It was horrible. My shoes were so tight. When I took off my shoes, my toes, and my feet started to burn too. I thought maybe I would never try to climb up again. I spend the whole night thinking about the big black wall. It holds were very different in size, colors, and shapes. The next day I decided to go there, maybe because I wanted to prove myself that I’m able to climb it.
Most of the people were confused about rock climbing and mountain climbing. I went to the mountains around 10 years ago. I didn’t have any idea about the gear, food or even weather and orientation. Those are things that your learn though time. It is important to show respect to the mountains. Some people believe that they are superheroes but we aren´t, and we must be conscious about the risk and danger in natural places.
Nowadays I’m a rock and mountain climber. Maybe I´m not a professional rock climber but I’m pretty sure that I love what I do. I teach how to climb to kids from 6 to 10 years old. As a climber, my advice for the new generations would be respect your planet, it´s the most important place. It has amazing and unique things. Chase your dreams and never surrender. Something that climbing taught me was try it harder, try it many times and then finally you will make it. Just remember; the only person who can make your dreams come true is you.
