Turning It Up to 11

Two weeks ago at my ladies' climbing group, we started working on project routes for top roping. Before I even had a chance to pick out a route to project, Breanne was eyeing an overhanging 11a for me. However, she ended up changing her mind and putting me on a vertical 11c. My first reaction was that there was no way that I could climb something like that, since the hardest I had climbed was 10c, but I was up for trying it. I asked to warm up on something first, because I hadn't climbed in the last 45 minutes, and she told me to get on an 11a. An 11a?! Are you kidding me?

So I sheepishly asked to warm up on a nearby 10c instead, and she agreed. I flashed the 10c with a bit of effort, and I started to realize why I needed to kick it up a notch. She put me on the 11c, and I fell off over and over again. The holds were definitely small and each move was strong, like a bouldering route. After 20 minutes or so, I finally made it up the route in pieces, and it was a crazy feeling. I didn't know I was capable of an 11c, even piecewise.

Since then, I've been pushing myself to climb 11s. I've flashed a few 11a's, so I think I need to really project 11b's and 11c's. It's amazing to me that in 7 months, I'm able to climb in the 11 range at all.

But as many climbers will say, the number doesn't matter. You just climb hard and challenge yourself and it is what it is. Gyms typically rate routes to be a lot harder than they would be outdoors. An 11c at Vertical World probably translates to a 10c or 10d outside, and that's more important to me. My goal is to definitely make it out to the big girl rocks this summer, so I feel like climbing an 11 in a gym is nothing compared to climbing an 11 outside.

(Note: This is a crappy post. I'm stressed and tired and just wanted to get some of these thoughts down before I get too far away from them in time and experience. I'll be more intelligent and less douchey sounding later.)