The past few weeks since the end of our summer season have been complete with a little bit of work and plenty of stellar time off. At the end of August, Daniel and I facilitated some training workshops for other staff. There were two workshops, each 3.5 hour sessions from the Outward Bound USA Professional Learning Lab. This facilitation was closing the loop on the trip we took in April to the OBUSA National Trainer's Conference, where we saw the workshops for the first time. They were titled "Creating a Supportive Learning Environment" and "Responding to Emotional Disregulation". I enjoyed both working with Daniel as well as seeing myself in a trainer role for other instructors. After Instructor training we broke up into smaller groups for the last 2 days. I was conducting training for two prospective climbing specialists in the form of rock rescue drill practice. We did one day under a porch because of pouring rain, and the second day in vertical terrain. It was productive for me to get so nerdy with this drill so close to my Rock Guide Course. And especially because the best way to learn something really well is to teach it to others. After the conclusion of the training block, I hung around for a day to go climbing with buddies Max and Borna on Looking Glass Rock. We attempted another aid climbing mission to practice skills we hope to use in Yosemite this October. It was a stellar day out on inspiring rock and it made me so excited for this big season of climbing that is about to overtake me. The next day Daniel and I immediately drove up to the New River Gorge in West Virginia to climb. We had a great trip, and really enjoyed the climbing. We did entirely single pitch climbing, stellar cragging really. Mostly trad with a sprinkle of sport. It was a good week of climbing to get my wheels spun up for this big fall that's about to ensue. I also especially enjoyed the car camping and being away from base camp for a bit. More details and pics below... Since returning from the New I have hosted two very important visitors in back to back visits. One was hometown bestie, Lea (gume) and the other was big sis Ronia (roon). It's been really fun to share basecamp, my home, with people that have known me for so long. It has also been great to take them both out climbing for their first times. So as the sun sets on this year of NCOBS for me, what's all this hype about a big climbing season? I leave North Carolina for the season on Sept 21 and begin my drive to Las Vegas. I will spend 3 weeks there including 9 days on my AMGA Rock Guide Course. Following Vegas, I spend a brief 5 days transitioning/ climbing in Indian Creek, then I head to Yosemite for 2 weeks. All of this leads me right to my flight to Argentina in early November. This winter once again I will work for NCOBS down in Patagonia. I will work one long course in Nov, and one in Jan, with 1.5 months in between the two to climb and adventure. So, cherished blog followers, buckle up. I'm excited to present to you some incredible content and reflections the next four months. As I begin to launch personally Outward Bound (out of my safe harbor of Cabin 1), here are a few overarching intentions for the fall...
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