Thank You Summit Hut and Inner Passage!

As Summit Hut Outdoor Adventure Camp starts to wind down, I want to take this time to thank everyone who came out and helped us this week! We had a lot going on, and without their help camp wouldn’t have been nearly as cool as it has been.

We started off the week with John and Dave. John talked to the girls about riparian areas and conservation and was very excited when they were actually interested in the discussion Dave taught the girls how to use a map and compass and took them outside for some hands on fun. They worked in teams, one blind folded and one leading them around. I think they all completed the course successfully. At the end of the day we had the girls journal about somewhere they would like to orienteer!

Tuesday, though I didn’t get to watch, was apparently pretty awesome! The girls have been talking about Jessica and Stephanie all week! Jessica walked in on Tuesday with a sweet orange pack full of gear for hiking and taught the girls about hiking essentials. From I hear, it was a pretty great class and I think all of the girls are more than prepared to brave their next hike! When we got back from climbing around 3 o’clock, someone ran out to meet us screaming “there’s a dog here!!!!” Stephanie was teaching a class on hiking with you dog!! Needless to say, everyone thought that was extremely cool.

On Wednesday, Krystal was awesome and stayed at camp with us ALL DAY! In the morning, she taught some basic first aid skills and in the afternoon the girls learned about Leave No Trace Outdoor Ethics! The Leave No Trace training came in real handy when I had to explain why we couldn’t remove a tree that was on our climbing route!

Thursday brought us Emily and Amanda. Everything they learned yesterday will come in very handy on our overnight- they learned how to set up camp and cook outdoors! The girls had a blast with these two ladies and wouldn’t stop talking about them when I got back from climbing!

We also had some other Summit Hut folks come along each day on our climbing adventures! They were all awesome and helped girls fit their harnesses, choose the right shoes and more importantly- helped to coach them on the rocks! Our Climbing days would not have gone as smooth as they had without them- so THANK YOU to Frank, Alison, Jeff, Meagan, Tyler and Dana!

Which brings me to an ULTRA HUGE THANK YOU to Matt and Sam from Inner Passage! Without them, we could not have exposed these girls to this awesome sport of rock climbing. They provided us with all the gear, expertise, coaching and even some silly voices that made our three days of climbing go off without a hitch. If you are interested in more climbing opportunities for your girls, your family or even your office, check out Inner Passage on the web at InnerPassage.net!

I Crown You… Rock Princess!

Have you ever stood at the bottom of a mountain and said “I can climb that”? Chances are, you probably haven’t. There’s a pretty good chance you’d never even consider climbing that mountain. It’s no secret- with your feet planted on the ground, your head craned back as far as it will go, eyes squinting through the rays of sun trying to find the top- It’s a little terrifying to picture yourself clinging to the side of that rock. But even more than it is terrifying… it’s exciting! You strap your harness on, clamp your helmet to your head, tie into the rope- and even with all that protection, all you can think about is you and that rock… and falling. You take your first step and you’re off the ground. Your blood starts pumping a little harder. You can feel the shape of the rock on your finger tips. It’s warm. You feel like you’re going to fall but you stick to the side of that rock like duct tape. After that, it’s just a few series of hand and foot moves and you’re nearly at the top. You can see it. A few more moves and you’re there. You’ve done it. You’ve made it to the top! You not only defied gravity but you conquered your fears! Not just your fear of heights but trying something new. Dude. You did it! It’s a rush. You’re breathing a little hard. Did you breathe at all on the way up? I can’t remember. Your blood is pumping even more. You can feel it. Your muscles are burning. There’s sunlight in your hair. Your friends are cheering you on from the bottom. You want to go down. But to do that, you’ll have to release your death grip on that hand hold and lean back in your harness. You’ll have to have a little faith and trust. Trust your harness. Trust your rope. Trust your belayer. Trust yourself. That’s a lot to think about in just a few seconds. You lean back a little and your foot slips out from under you and its terrifying. All those fears that you left on the ground have found you again and you cling to the rock. You lean back a little more. A little more and from the ground it looks like you are lounging on the beach. You take another step back, tears welling up in your eyes. You took another step but you didn’t slip! You take a couple more steps back and start thinking that this is a piece of cake. You lose track of how many steps you are taking and pretty soon your feet hit the ground. And you’ve done it. There’s not many people who can say that they’ve climbed that mountain. But you can. You go girl.

As of today, 37 of our girls have gone rock climbing. During the approach, the majority of them thought they couldn’t do it. They were super nervous, even scared. But with the encouragement of our Inner Passage guides and our Summit Hut volunteers, all of them gave it a try. And all of them made it to the top and back down again. There have been some tears shed and some scraped knees and elbows…but there have been 37 accomplished smiles seen from the top. The girls all tried something new, conquered their fears and encouraged their friends. It has been an AMAZING experience and I can’t wait to take our last two groups climbing tomorrow. Matt, our Inner Passage guide asked the girls to sum up their experience this afternoon in one word and here are the ones that I could remember (tomorrow I’ll have to write them down!): Scary. Fun. Amazing. High. Supercalafragilistic. Exciting. Cool. Awesome. Spectacular. Rocks. Super. Incredible. Isn’t that fun? We had a lot of awesomes and cools. Matt crowned them all Rock Climbing Princesses

Big thanks to our Guides from Inner Passage, Matt and Sam and to our Summit Hut volunteers so far- Allison, Frank, Meagan and Jeff!