Ropes

What a weekend... For the past 3 days I have been training to be a high and low ropes instructor. I had myself all worked up about doing it. The first morning after being told what was needed to be done to pass I actually vomited!(No Joke!) -That has never happened to me before I Just felt so much pressure and expectation to pass as well as most people already knowing it all and have alot of experience in climbing. We had to be able to tie 8 different knots, belay climbers, set up ropes for climbers, back up belay, climb and set up work stations and be able to communicate all these activities. The first day was spent on the climbing wall and belay and climbing on different high rope team activities, the second day I didn't vomit but I did cry! It was spent again on the climbing wall and then we had to set up our on work stations this was the main thing we had to do to pass! I had to climb up 45 feet and attach myself with a harness, and attach a pully to the wire and put a sheer reduction device through the pully and put a rope through, then unclip myself and climb/belay back down! Mike D went first, then Tom got half way up and chickened out. Was then my turn I climbed up and with great coaching from Mike at the bottom was able to do it and was about to come down when the instructor said that because Tom didn't do it and wasnt going to try it again the station had to come back down my immediate words were- 'TOM ARE YOU SERIOUS!!” But then realised I could do it and it would build up my confidence by the time I was coming down my leg was shaking so bad I didn't think Id be able to climb back down- I was so proud of myself after I did it! Then today we had more classroom style learning and then had to set up the stations again for the second time to pass, Mike belayed me again with Tom on back up and I managed to do it in a third of the time it took me yesterday- again very proud of myself! Although I did cut the entire side of my hand when I was up there. At night we had to practise our knots etc last night it left like one of those movie situations when someone/a team are not very good at something and in the film they play a song and show the person practising and by the next scene they were amazing at it well that was me last night with my knots while everyone else watched a movie I practiced and practiced (my song was Snow Patrol Eyes Open if you needed to know the sound effects!) So all in all I vomited and cried but I am now a fully certified level 1 ropes instructor!! and even better was that not everyone passed! The weekend on the ropes course I felt was good for us as a group as it really brought us closer and built trust up. Check out the climbing at- Muskoka woods.
Apart from ropes on Thursday night one of our groups had a disco and we asked if we could go so Steph, Tom, the 2 Mikes and I danced the night away it was great fun and felt like I was in Saved by the bell!. Here's to cutting my minute mile time by 40 seconds, hitting a seagull on the head with a vortex, the amount of chipmunks, getting invited to Terri's house for thanksgiving, to the movie 'rent' being rubbish and pretending to be awake during it, to getting sun burnt and to getting 2 kids stuck on the zip line and having to call my boss to help me!, to the big thunder and lighting storm, my first late night chat in Canada and to breaking curfew!