I sit here writing this post from the now world-famous Miguel’s Pizza located in the Red River Gorge. It is amazing as it is a Wednesday morning and this place is swarming with climbers all talking about and getting ready to send their “proj.” I have never really tried to climb hard – by this I mean putting a ton of effort into a single route so that every move is dialed, and when it all comes together, I can call it a “send.” This year I picked a number and have been working towards it. I haven’t hopped on a route that bears this number grade yet; maybe today will be the day. The Red is very specific climbing that mainly deals with being able to hold on. I have spent more back-to-back days here this year than I ever have and also have a plan to be here this October for the Rocktoberfest and a short stint after as well. This is proving to help my endurance on these harder routes. I have been getting climbs that are a bit easier than my target grade in a few goes, but even giving a route a few goes is something I never would have put in the effort to do in the past. So here is to the process of working a route, chasing numbers, and Ale 8 One; though I still believe that what it is really all about is the good times we have with the people around us!
