Mile High Club

The ladies were interested in getting some new chalk bags to replace their previous ones which are getting worn from rubbing against the holds. I didn’t want to just buy them so I told them they could earn them by climbing a mile. I quickly realized Ellie was going to see this as a “winning game” and this was not going to work. It is usually the younger sibling that is hyper competitive due to having to keep up with the older one. Statistically, top female athletes are much more likely to have an older brother than expected. In Ellie’s case, she refuses to compete with Phoebe because she cannot stand losing. I thought better of this situation and made it a team effort. They were both contributing towards the mile and when it was achieved, I would get them their chalk bags. I estimated it would take around 10-12 trips to Carabiners and in the end it was 8 or 9. I think the biggest single day was around 850 feet which doesn’t seem like a whole lot until you realize most of this is hanging on your fingertips and the toes. The gym staff were aware of their challenge and seemed amused that they referred to it as joining the “mile high club”. We have moved onto a different challenge which requires more technical climbing but this one was very fruitful because somehow Ellie had gotten over her fear of heights or loose holds or whatever it was and started climbing back to the roof. Nothing like a materialistic motivation.