For probably the second time since 2017 I have accidentally missed a month in my blogging! The reason is simple, I was very busy playing outside, and I hardly ever open my computer. Good reasons. But it's time for an update as I've had a very full and busy April and early May. This spring season I've been wearing 3 (three) different hats at the North Carolina Outward Bound School. I'll talk about each of those, along with some personal recreation updates. work:Instructor A classic! Back at it again, doing what (I think!) I know how to do. I instructed one course this spring, it was a 4 day course for an all girls group of high school freshmen. Weather was great, my co-instructors were great, and it went about as smooth as an Outward Bound course could go. It was nice to knock some rust off, and feel that I can still sling it in the field. While I have passion for field instructing, this course also made me thankful that I won't be spending the entire season living in the field. resident climbing specialist My new position this year! I am mostly living at Table Rock base camp and working as climbing staff. This means that largely, I sleep on base, and hike out on workdays to meet up with crews during their course. I set up climbs and facilitate the climbing day for these crews. I am loving this role for a number of reasons. First, I feel as though it is an actualization of my passions; my experience with climbing has impacted me so deeply, it's experiential education combined with a radical bad ass sport, it is a fulfilling pursuit to introduce others to this personal journey. Second, I am seeing myself in a leadership role on base and at the program because of this job. All of my years as a sports team captain in high school and college have prepared me for this. Additionally, I think it is super powerful for all of these students and staff to see a strong female in this technical, typically male dominated, role. Third, I love this role because I am no longer living in the field full time!! I get to shower every day, and eat a big dinner with all my friends, and most importantly watch lots of TV at night! Stability! Anyway, here's a few pics! Casual cragging during a staff professional development workshop at the east face of Table Rock. Home sweet home! I've been loving the pro-devs this year because it always just ends up being me and 3-5 of my friends going climbing. All staff have reported them being productive and fun. My cup is especially filled by training other staff, as I believe this has a trickle down effect to our students. Additionally, with strong technical backgrounds and an eye for the experiential process, staff are in a great position to reap the benefits from the climbing personal journey. course Director A new role for me this year! Big movement up in the program world. I worked a 5 day school group course as a course director, with my good friend and mentor, Stiles. I really appreciated doing this for my first time with someone who has done it a ton and provides super high quality training. The course director is someone who wears a lot of hats. They are an administrator- organizing the pre course and all paperwork, they are an educator- providing a pro-dev workshop and over the phone coaching, they are a risk manager- responding to physical and emotional emergencies in the field. But all that's to say, they also sleep on base!! Once again, I am ascending!! When reflecting on the experience, I recalled that I had late nights, I witnessed miracles, I had hard conversations, and I was a part of the magic. It was a full on classic Outward Bound experience, I just wasn't with a crew the whole time. The instructors were my crew, and it was inspiring to see all of my friends doing their thing! Overall very positive experience, I feel that I have something to offer in that role, and I would definitely do it again. Yeah thats ME in the center of the circle addressing 70 8th graders to start their Outward Bound course. "Here are the things that will get you kicked off! Here are the things you should do to thrive! Here's an inspirational quote!" I think they liked it because I got a nice applause after giving my first ever course start speech. playcolorado tripDaniel is pictured here rigging a rappel in Eldorado Canyon, Boulder. We went to Leadville for a work trip, to be a part of the Outward Bound USA National Trainer's Conference. The conference was awesome and inspiring, but more exciting to report is that we got to climb in Boulder for 3 days after the conference. Daniel is doing a Rock Guide course here in June, so it was a good experience for him to get the lay of the land. climbing (naturally)Paddling (bravely)My OG squad of OB besties!! Left to right is Daniel, Max, Julia, me. These 3 have been my absolute best friends since I met them all in spring 2021. It's really special to be working, playing, and growing up alongside them. In this photo, we were paddling the Chattooga River in SC/GA. We stopped at this more challenging rapid, Dick's Creek to scout and run some laps. This photo makes my heart so full. Me, just moments after running Dick's Creek! Boy I was SO SCARED I really can't emphasize that enough. I know it may seem that I'm fearless because I'm comfortable hanging off the side of a cliff, but water as a medium REALLY freaks me out. It's dynamic and there is more that is out of my control than with rock. For me, paddling is a powerful confrontation with fear and I was extremely proud of myself for running this class 3+ rapid. It wasnt the most beautiful line, but it went safe, and I learned that I can feel fear and keep moving anyways. In summary, what a season!! I'm truly loving it. Loving my friends, my play, my work. So thankful to be healthy and strong right now. So thankful to be actualizing as a 26 year old. Life is great, and now it's documented in the blog. Coming up in the month of May: more climbing work, a trip to NYC, and a trip to visit my sister at her new house (!!) in DC. Fearlessly onward!!
Ah yes another trip across the country and another thick transition in the books! I am writing this blog from my home, Cabin 1, at the NCOBS Table Rock basecamp. Since my last post, I have lived a few lives, covered a few thousand miles, and yes believe it or not, worked quite a few days. Here's the spraydown... Cannon beach & final days in BendDaniel and I opened the book on aid climbing! Pictured here is me at the base of Monkey Face at Smith Rock. We attempted the West Face, a 4 pitch C1 aid climb. Unfortunately, I failed to protect the rope well enough from the sharp edge after the first pitch, so as Daniel ascended, the rope rubbed and became core shot. We rappelled down carefully and learned a great (but expensive) lesson. More to come on this aid journey in the near future for sure. xc drive east boundMost notable from the drive east was our stop in Chicago. We visited and crashed with some of my BFF's from home. Pictured here is Lea (gume) and Mary, and Emily (e) was the one behind the camera. It was such a treat to visit them twice in 2 months, and to be able to finally introduce Daniel to them! We stayed up until midnight and listened to Miley Cyrus' new album, Endless Summer Vacation. A moment in my life for sure. Lots of love. We made a safe trip back east in 4 days, and upon arrival to Table Rock base camp we quickly parked the cars then grabbed our climbing gear and headed up Table Rock for our first multi-pitch lap of the season. We climbed North Ridge 5.5 3 pitches for probably my 8th time but, hey, once a classic always a classic. ncobs training seasonEarly season started off casually with Course Director training. This will be my first season as a CD, and it is an advisory/leadership/administrative role that I am excited to learn more about. Anyway, every night, we'd play Settlers of Catan. Great vibes great people. L to R is Bri, Slada, Daniel, and Brodin. During Return Staff training we did workshops for 3 of 4 days. On the other day we did an off-trail navigation quest. I was a trainer for this training, and I instructed workshops on Choice Theory/ Student Management, as well as Psychological First Aid/ supporting students with anxiety or panic attacks. BFFs and peers of mine, Max and Daniel were also trainers. It is being fun to grow up with those guys here, and see our roles on base change from year to year. Anyway, in the evening we would do community building. One night, we did an Iron Chef competition... Return staff training included a 3 day intermediate rock skills training for staff, which myself, Max, Daniel and our manager David were the trainers for. I worked with Max, and we had a group of 7 staff. It was wild to see myself in this role, still suffering from imposter syndrome, still wondering if I'm faking it. Anyway, as soon as the training was finally done, Max, Daniel, and myself got out climbing. Pictured is Max on the sharp end at The Dump! Last training, and it's still currently underway so this brings us to the present moment. Pictured is a group of NCOBS climbing specialists on day 1 of our Climber Staff Training. We did some trail work with the Carolina Climber's Coalition to improve the climber's trail on the east face of Table Rock. I worked on building a rock staircase (pictured!) and it was fun to get my hands on some rock work for the first time ever. I've done lots of wood work, digging, and clearing, but never rock work. Physical day and super satisfying. Every time I use this trail in the future, I'll use this staircase and think "hey I put these rocks here!" March has been a great month. I'm extremely thankful for another safe transition east, with no car issues or hang ups. I'm really glad to be back home at Table Rock base camp, and in a place to be serving others. I am very excited for my new roles at NCOBS this year, and so far everything has been going just dandy! Worth mentioning that I also turned 26 this month, and had to figure out my own health insurance. I suppose adulthood has its annoyances, but shucks if you had told 10 year old Addie this is how it would all shake out, I bet she would have been stoked at the arrangement. I really feel like I'm living my dream.
After my return from Patagonia, I drove across the country promptly to land in Bend, Oregon for a 2 month off-season of skiing and climbing. Off-season is a tough time for me, mainly because of my need for rest, coupled with finally having the time to get after my own pursuits at a high level. I came into this off-season with a fitness focused intention. I know myself, and being fit and enjoying my sports is pretty central to feeling refreshed and motivated. Obviously, though, overuse injuries have been nagging me since I started training really, at the ripe age of 15. These days, I battle elbow (mainly left) and knee (either one, they like to alternate) tendinitis. Part of my fitness focused intention was to get shredded, but also stretch a lot and take care of myself so that I am physically prepped for the next year (and many more) of high impact life. After all of the travel, I was itching to get back on rock or in the gym and get even stronger in my climbing. The climbing at Bend Rock Gym as well as Smith Rock State Park did not disappoint. I also joined a yoga studio and started practicing there about 3-5 days per week. Additionally, obviously, I have enjoyed some skiing as well. Mostly resort, but a nice sampling of backcountry and nordic kept it well rounded and interesting. In fact, well rounded and interesting is a great way to generally describe my time in Bend. Every day, I would sleep in (rest quota = achieved), then choose 1, 2, or even 3 of my activities and go get after it. I have no major achievements to note, and that's just fine. Truly the achievement is that I healthily kept myself occupied for this long. Thanks to the pandemic for that skill set. And to my mother, who would patiently tell me "you need to learn to occupy yourself" when I would kneel at her office chair and cry out "I'm bored" for hours as a child. Well, anyway, free time isn't the death sentence that it used to be for me, so here's a bit more detail on the activities that I've chosen to fill my time this winter... climbing First major life update here is that I got a new job within the North Carolina Outward Bound School. This upcoming summer, instead of full time instructing, I will be taking on the Resident Climbing Specialist role at the Table Rock base camp. As a Climbing Specialist, my job typically involves me hiking out from base and setting up then facilitating a climbing day (or multi-day block) for a crew. The key difference from the instructing gig is that I sleep on base for climbing work. With the Resident Climber role, I will be getting paid this summer to (almost) exclusively do climbing work (I will also instruct one 22 day). Additionally this role involves some level of training instructors as well as gear organization and management. All of this updating and verbal processing is to say... climbing has really become my full time thing. After 3 fruitful and oh-so-wonderful ski bum seasons out west, I decided that for my 4th the real goal here isn't just to bum out and let the ski conditions dictate my happiness. The real goal here is to continue to progress, and to gain experiences, skill, and strength in areas relevant to my passions, and also my career. Convenient with this new job, passions and career are kind-of colliding. So, anyway, yes, climbing this winter in Oregon! One of the main reasons I picked Bend for the winter. What a trip! WOW Smith Rock is quite the place!! So I got up to both single and multi pitch climbing at Smith. Mostly sport, a trad here or there. Like I said, I wanted to build my climbing fitness this winter and, like I said, I don't have any notable sends to prove that I've done that. But I feel strong. And I won't be rusty when the season comes around. Climbing season for me will be long. It will last from now until the new year, with one 22 day break in July. Smith Rock was great for its ease of access, casual and accessible cragging, and bolts of course! I really enjoyed sport climbing, and taking falls, and just getting mileage under me. Perfect off-season vibes. The majority of my climbing mileage this winter was in a gym though. Bend Rock gym met the fix with a great lead wall, plenty of bouldering, and of course auto belays. Climbing in the gym always makes me feel like a kid. I feel the same as the first time that I pulled on plastic- probably age 9 or so. I'm not as light or fearless as I used to be, but the joy of movement is still there. Skiing Ah yes the original passion! Before the tidal wave of climbing consumed me I was once a skier and a skier pure! But now, alas, times are a changing and skiing is merely a side hobby. I intentionally cared a little less about skiing this year and it has really freed me from the obligation. This way, I'm more open to skiing casually and letting skiing be a fun thing, rather than yet another arena where I need to progress and prove something. If you couldn't tell by the 4 years of consistent blogging, I do feel a need to be proving myself worthy. From wherever that comes, I thank and curse. Anyway, this winter I skied at Mt. Bachelor with a weekday pass. I also did a few "thrifty Thursdays" at Hoodoo. I skied and snowboarded. There was a few nice storms especially in February, and there was plenty of mellow trees. Good times. Spring is upon us... Off-season was short, but dare I say, not too short. I'm just about getting to that point where I'm ready to do something that contributes to the world again. On March 7th, I will leave Bend and make the journey back east to North Carolina for the NCOBS season. Life is just fine. That's all I've got for this update!
I spent a month climbing in Patagonia after my Outward Bound contract ended. I did this climbing with my partner, Daniel and our best friend, Max. I now have the immense challenge of trying to summarize this experience into this blog. But I will do it, as I appreciate the challenge, enjoy sharing, and love the record. I climbed in 3 different locations, and each was quite different. I'll do an organized little write up of each followed by some photos. (In this ted talk I will... prove my neuroticism to the ethers of the internet) Cerro Ventana, Bariloche, Argentina After my course, Daniel was the first to arrive. We had 5 days together before Max arrived. We booked an Airbnb with a reasonable approach time to the base of a bunch of sport climbing. There was single pitch sport, which we did 2 of the days, and there was multi-pitch sport, which we did 2 days as well. It was nice to ease back into the climbing, as I was coming out of 3 months without it. The rock was kind of chossy, but it was great to have climbing essentially right in town. We clipped bolts, dialed in our systems, watched Netflix, and cooked hearty meals in our heavenly Airbnb. Brief intermission from climbing report... ... Because at the end this week of climbing, not only did Max arrive, but Argentina made it to the World Cup final! This set us up quite nicely for a lifetime cultural experience. We went downtown and waited in line early in the morning for a bar. It was an exciting final game, and wicked cool to be there when they won. It was fun to stand out in the streets for a bit for the celebration, but I was simply an observer which was an interesting experience. I know the feeling, ah yes the street rally. This one was cool to see. Here's one pic. Frey, Bariloche, Argentina So after the World Cup win, we loaded up heavy backpacks and took a taxi to the ski resort in town, Catedral (largest ski resort in South America). From the trailhead there, we hiked 4 hours/ 7 km to the Refugio Frey, a mountain hut with food service, beds, and free camping outside. We set up our tents and immediately went to climb our first climb, a 5.8 glory hands crack in a dihedral, then up a face. Absolutely stunning rock quality and friction. We came back down extremely excited that this would set the tone for a few weeks of lifetime climbing. And it sure did. Frey has a bunch of granite spires, and over the next 8 days we did a number of classics up these incredible features. Worth mentioning, that Frey has a pretty serious sandbag... aka whatever grade a route is called, the route probably feels much harder than that. This made for a humbling and challenging climbing experience. Camping at the hut was lovely, as we could waltz in after a hard day out and simply order a pizza or sprite or cookies. This trip was a great progression for me/ us because although there was a hut with food service that we definitely utilized, it was my first time ever backpacking to go climbing. Plus, climbing alpine trad was a thrilling and adventurous experience. Pics: Valle Cochamo, Chile After a brief transition in Bariloche, and a logistical epic to get things booked, we made the big journey to Chile to climb in Cochamo Valley. The journey there required essentially: bus in town, 8 hr bus to random Chilean town, 2 hr drive from nice hostel man, 5 hour hike in ankle deep horse poop. It was a 2 day journey and it really set the tone for the adventurous nature of the climbing in Cochamo. This valley can be likened to Yosemite; it has epic amounts of granite, walls taller than El Capitan, and so much rock that its light grey color fills your entire field of vision. But it was so different than any place that I have ever climbed because, well, there was no guidebook! All route information is on hand drawn topos, which are (some posted online) found on the ground, at the bivouac sites for each area. For example, when we went to climb in Anfiteatro (the amphitheater), we left our tents up in the main campground, and took everything else with us to the bivy site. There, we located the bivy boulder with the beaten binder (alliteration !) and took photos of the routes we thought we might do. We lucked out big time with this trip, not just in our logistical realm (like securing bus tickets and being granted extra camping days) but especially in our weather realm! Chile, as it is on the western side of the Andes, receives all the rain and humidity from the ocean. While Argentina was rather dry except for snow melt, Chile was essentially a rain forest. In some ways, it reminded me a bit of North Carolina. Despite this wet fate, we had every day except for 1 with full sun. Incredible! So, we climbed, yes we did. We also backpacked a ton. We climbed in 2 of the higher valleys, and getting there/between/back was no small feat. This trip, while it was a lifetime climbing trip, felt like a beta-gathering trip in many ways. The real best way to do Cochamo is to spend at least a month there, that way you have time for hiking between sites, rest days, bad weather, and big (potentially) overnight missions. With our short week there, we did an impressive amount in my opinion, and I was very proud of us for stringing together all of the logistics and then buckling up for an adventure and trying hard. I hope to return in the future. Pics: The trail up to the main campground. The valley is washing away with all the human use. The trails don't have much in the way of drainage, and the land is so soft. As it rains, which it does constantly, the trail becomes a little river and forms these deep trenches. Lucky for us, when we hiked in, it was relatively dry. Vibes are high at the bivy on our penultimate night at Cochamo. Things to note: 1. my yellow cilmbing pack in the right side of the pic is standing up by itself. That's a well packed pack. Idk, I'm just proud of it. 2. ropes in the tree on the right side of the pic... here's to hoping mice don't chew through them! 3. Daniel left, Max right. Lucky me! globe trot & what's next? Well after our last climb at Cochamo we rappelled down to the bivy. There we packed our bags and hiked back down to the main campground, arriving at 10pm. The next morning we left at 7am, and hiked back out through the horse poop to the trailhead. We then walked along a dirt road, hitching a ride in a pickup truck along the way for the bulk of the 8km to the bus stop. From there, we took a 4 hour bus to the random Chilean town again and got a hotel room. The next day, we took our 8 hour bus back to Bariloche, then a taxi from the bus terminal back to our home base- a friend's house. Two days later, I took a taxi to the airport, then a 2 hour flight to Buenos Aires, then an hour long taxi to the international airport in BA, then a 10 hour red eye to Atlanta, then a 2 hour flight to Charlotte, then a 2 hour drive back to Asheville in Stiles' truck (thanks Stiles!). All that's to say, it was a long and involved journey from the top of our last climb until I was safe and sound in Asheville. But the fun didn't stop there. The next morning, I started my drive out west. Day 1 to Chicago. Day 2 layover day in Chicago to hang with friends. Day 3 to Rapid City, SD. Day 4 to Bozeman, MT. Day 5 1/16 I arrived in Bend, Oregon.
So pheeewwwww I've done it. I've arrived at the present moment. I am now in Bend, Oregon, in a house of 5 people (friends from NCOBS). I am here for 2 months to ski at Mt. Bachelor and (hopefully) backcountry, as well as climb in the gym and at Smith Rocks. I'm here to rest, get shredded, have fun, and enjoy comfortable life before I head back into the world of Outward Bound in March. I am extremely thankful to NCOBS for sending me to Patagonia for work and for believing in me to instruct the course down there. Flights paid for a month of climbing after that work was quite the deal. I walk away from the past 2 months with an incredible lifetime experience under my belt as well as money saved. I think that this arrangement will work quite well for me. I expect to be back next winter. If you made it to the end of this post, color me impressed. I had fun synthesizing everything down into a (hopefully) digestible and colorful post. A doozy, for the books, but as always, worth the effort. After my last entry I flew down to Bariloche, Argentina to work the 3rd phase of the International Semester with NCOBS. See previous blog for an explanation of what that means. The phase was 23 days long, with a week of backpacking, a 3 day solo experience, 3 days of day hiking, and a week on the glacier of Mt. Tronador. This phase was beautiful, in a number of ways. Primarily, because it was the final phase for this crew of boys on their semester course that I worked with back in the NC mountains. It was magical to be a part of the end of their journey. They had outspokenly got so much from the course, many expressed having found a sense of direction, or at least skills and knowledge to apply to life back home. This aspect of "transference" from course to home was a big theme all phase long, and truly that is what I do this job for. This phase was also beautiful because the scenery, was, well, unbelievably beautiful. Snow capped mountains, lakes, waterfalls, rainbows... truly such lifetime high scenery. The Patagonia region offers impressive outdoor recreation, not the least of which was the glacier that we spent the last week of course on. I'm so thankful to have had this opportunity for professional development as well as such fulfilling and meaningful instructing. Anyway, I could try to write a book about a) what this semester has meant to me and b) what this journey to Patagonia means to me. But that's a lot of words for something that words can only begin to describe. So here's some photos. Well life is just fine! Thankful that the course went so well and that it paid for my flights down here. Because of this opportunity, I'll be spending the next month down here climbing, first at Frey then at Cochamo in Chile. Best friends Max and Daniel are working the January semester phase down here, so they'll arrive early and I'm staying late. I'm super excited for the freedom and adventure that the next month will bring!
Where we left off, I was at Table Rock base camp about to begin pre-course planning for a 30 day phase of a 72 day semester course. That course has since come & gone, and now I'm prepared to offer a few reflections and photos during this week of rest before I hit the ground running again. So, I just worked a phase of a semester course. What does that mean? The North Carolina Outward Bound School offers a 72 day International Semester (CLICK HERE to see course page), which includes 3 phases. 30 days in the North Carolina Mountains, 20 days in the Florida Everglades, and 20 days in Patagonia, Argentina. Working this mountains phase was my second time doing so, and in less than 10 days, I will fly to Argentina to work the Patagonia phase for my first time. So, working 2 of the 3 phases means a burly fall of field work for me. Currently, I'm reporting from Miami after dropping my crew off in the Everglades, where I'm chillin with my sister for a few days before returning to NC to pack & leave. This semester phase that I just worked was very different than last year. There are 3 large reason why. First, it was significantly shorter. This year is the return of the international semester, whereas last year it was a domestic semester still because of covid. So last year it was 42 days, and this year it was 30. I much prefer the 30 day length, it's long enough but doesn't drag as much. Second, the crew was very different. This year, I had an all boys crew. I was slightly nervous about this, but it turned out to be a really cool affinity space for them, and the crew culture of "the boys" certainly ran strong and deep. Finally, this course was different than last year because my co instructor was Daniel, someone whom I am very close to. It was really fun to run a course with my best friend, and share such an intimate experience together. All in all, this course went extremely well and left me feeling very confident in my instructional abilities and once again, inspired by the process. So what did we do in the woods for 30 days? We started with a backpacking expedition, and taught the crew how to use all of the equipment that they would need for this phase. The students did a Wilderness First Aid class for 3 days, then we went on our river block. We paddled the Upper Green, French Broad section 10, and the Nantahala. The students then did a 28 hour solo, then we did our rocks block. Climbing block was cool because Daniel and I are both climbing specialists, so we got to lead our students up their multi-pitch on day 3. The course culminated with the students doing a 3 night, 2 day unaccompanied final backpacking expedition. One of the goals of Outward Bound is to teach students the skills that they will need to be self reliant. The unaccompanied final is as far as this progression can go, and really lets students use their skills to perform and flex that autonomy. For this crew in particular, this form of a final expedition was very powerful because as they transition to the Everglades phase of their course, they will have 2 new instructors. Their crew culture and independence will serve them well as their semester course continues on. There were a number of personal highlights on this course for me. One was multi-pitch day on our climbing block. This was because it was super cool to guide 2 waves of students (2 sets of 2) up Table Rock on their first multi-pitch climb. Currently, I'm pretty stoked to head down the guiding track career wise, and I love the NCOBS climbing program because it has given me the opportunity to do this in a multi-pitch setting via an educational variance to my single pitch AMGA certification. Another personal highlight for me was working with Daniel. In a lot of ways, I saw our co-instructor relationship as a gold standard, with very open and honest communication, and lots of fun. I grew a lot as a person through our feedback dialogue, and it was really spectacular to have deep life conversations on trail all month long. A final personal highlight for me was feeling such confidence with my course design. Selecting lessons/ curriculum on a daily level, as well as keeping in mind big picture course vision felt very natural. Last year, I did not feel like I had much vision, but this year I felt like I was in the right place for my skill set, and that I had a lot to offer. Of course it was challenging as well. My biggest challenge on this course was perhaps managing my own food stress. Not food stress because I was hungry, but food stress because my students were hungry. I did what is called "riding the student emotional rollercoaster" a few times, where they were so food stressed that I also became very stressed. Working through this was hard, but ultimately Daniel & I, with support from the program, were able to provide more food for this hungry crew. Another challenge I had on this course was regarding being present, and appreciating field time. I've definitely mentioned before that this season was in a lot of ways all that I've ever wanted, but sometimes when I'm in the grind of the field I forget that and wish I was elsewhere. It was a daily challenge for me to be thankful for the opportunity and not wish away these prime days of my instructing career. Well, that's a lot of words, but it felt good to synthesize down my past month. Here's a few photos, to help with the description. Sorry in advance, I didn't get many, but I'm determined to do better in Patagonia these next 2 months! Check back in a week, I might be able to edit this post with more photos... What's next? Well, on November 9th I leave the country and fly to, ultimately, Bariloche, Argentina where I will spend the next 3 weeks helping to run the 3rd phase of the NCOBS semester course. I'm extremely excited for this challenging opportunity to grow and develop my instructing. We will be doing alpine backpacking, as well as a few days of glacier travel. After the course ends, I will stay in Patagonia for another month to climb, with Max and Daniel who are working the spring semester phase in Patagonia. So we're going to overlap for a bit down there and hopefully get into some epic lifetime climbing. When my South America adventure comes to an end, I will come back to the US and drive to Bend, OR where I will spend winter with a few friends from NCOBS. All good things on the horizon... surely plenty of challenge and good views are lurking just ahead for me! There will be no blog in November, because my course won't end until December. So keep an eye out in December for the next installment.
Final plug, me and Julia's podcast just dropped another episode yesterday. For another angle at my life, give it a listen. We chat about this semester course (which she did as a student in 2020!) as well as where our careers/ lives might be taking us. Gotta be honest, this episode is a pretty genuine one and gives a great lens. Life just keeps on rolling and I've had a reasonably decent month without work. There were some cool trips out of NC, and plenty of emotional ups and downs. I had this past month off in preparation for the semester course that I'm about to run for NCOBS. With that in mind, I tried to find some balance between getting after it (climbing), visiting friends and family, and resting. Chicago Where we left off in the last blog, I had covid, and was praying for a negative test so that I could see my squad of hometown friends out in Chicago. Lucky for me, I tested negative with plenty of time and made my flight for this little midwest excursion. This group of friends has been my girl gang all through high school and still to this day. In college, then covid, we made visits happen. This was our first reunion, all 6 of us, since we were all home for covid. It really locked in that this is a lifelong group. Boston Unfortunately I had a medical procedure at the very beginning of September that would need to include some recovery time. Fortunately, this pushed me to plan a visit home to see family and more friends. My sister Ronia even booked a flight from Miami to be a part of the visit, what a treat! It was really nice to be in my childhood home again and to spend some quality time with my immediate family, who I only see once a year or so. I also got to see some friends from high school and college, who live in Boston. On the morning I was going to leave (9/11) I cried and said goodbye to my childhood dog, Ween (Ernesto Danger), because he had terminal cancer and I could just tell that he was at the end of his life. Ween was put down peacefully on our front porch on September 13. Rest In Peace Ween. climbing trip How else would one Addie Hurwitz bounce back from a medical sucker punch to the face as well as the loss of a loved one? After the trip home, Daniel and I returned to basecamp for just a day then we headed out to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky for 2 days of sport climbing and 1 day of trad climbing. It was fantastic weather and not crowded at all. Following that, we went to Seneca Rocks in West Virginia for 2 days of trad multi pitch climbing. That was a new climbing area for us both, and definitely came with its challenges. But the rock feature was super cool and we climbed some pretty cool lines. Here's some pics: Now what? It's pretty hard for me to complain but I will surely do it anyway. September was fine, did a lot of fun and restorative things. Also cried a lot. Hard. That's life. This week I'm working with Daniel on some pre pre-course work to get ready for our 30 day mountains semester phase. Formal pre-course starts in just a few days. After that phase, I have about 10 days off before I fly down to Argentina to work the Patagonia phase of the same course. I'm staring into the barrel of two straight months of course work ahead of me, serving students. After that, 5 straight months of climbing, skiing, yoga, and investing in myself. Balance for me is pretty macro I guess, not a day to day thing but a year long mission. As I've always been a pretty all-or-nothing person, I guess that makes sense. Onward.
As mentioned in my June post, I wasn't going to post in July because I would be on a month-long course. Well I'm back now and it has been an exciting and very busy two months. This update will come in 4 categories, as that organization will work best for my brain here. UNC 28 day outward bound course This summer I got staffed on my dream course, a 28 day course with UNC Chapel Hill students. All of these students were on this course as a part of their scholarship to school. They all applied for the course, and were really motivated to be there. That is what sets this course apart from all other courses that I've worked; a full crew of high achieving adults, who really are bought into and stoked about the experience. This course was backpacking based, as usual. We had a 3 day climbing block that culminated in a successful multi pitch climb for every student. We had a 4 day whitewater canoe block where we paddled the Chattooga River for 3 days, then the Nantahala River for 1 day. We did a day of trail service with the organization Wild South, the students did a Wilderness First Aid & CPR course, and they also did a 48 hour solo. It was a packed 28 days, and went as good as an Outward Bound course can. The self reliance, leadership, and care for each other that these students displayed impressed me from day 1 until the end. They had the opportunity to go on an unaccompanied final backpacking expedition, which they thoroughly earned throughout the course. They did a 3 day, 3 night backpacking trip without me and my co, which was a culminating show of their self reliance. Start to end, this course was a dream. My co, Caleb, and I worked so well together and we made a lot of fun for ourselves. All of the courses I've ever worked before with middle schoolers and/or students that did not want to be there just made this course even sweeter. Dream student population, dream co-instructor, dream length. This course spoiled me! Here are just a few photos from that course... Climbing work Less exciting than the previous section, but what I've always wanted, so worth mentioning nonetheless. Pretty immediately following my 28 day, I headed over to the other base camp, Cedar Rock for a little bit of climbing work. I shadowed my boss/friend/mentor, Spencer, on a full 3 day block that culminated in a multi pitch climb. This shadow block is important so that I can "shine" on my next 3 day block, and then be checked off to run them on my own. I also facilitated a 1 day block with a veterans crew, and a ropes course day with an OB Professional group. I loved this work, as it was solely climbing and related activities, but also because it is more residential than instructing. I got to come back to base, shower, and see my friends every night. In the future, I am hoping to phase more into this type of work rather than full time instructing. I don't have any photos from this work, but I have one photo from a day off in between workdays... Pictured is my partner, Daniel, tying in for a climb. The rock pictured is at Cathey's Creek Crag, near Brevard, NC. It was nice to spend some time with Daniel after a month away, and to get out and climb personally again. We actually got our butts kicked on this climb, but that's what climbing is all about anyway, right? American alpine institute moutaineering course With barely a single day off after climbing work, I packed up and left for Bellingham, Washington with best friend Max and partner Daniel. We had applied for professional development funding from NCOBS last year, and got some money to do this Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue course with the American Alpine Institute. The purpose of us doing this course was largely in preparation for us being staffed on NCOBS' courses in Patagonia, Argentina. The NCOBS semester course is a 3 phase course, one in the NC mountains (I worked this phase last year), one in the FL Everglades, and one in Patagonia, Argentina. This year, the international programming is coming back for the first time since covid, and NCOBS is investing in us to get some mountaineering training so that we can safely be a part of the instructional teams. So off to Washington we went! The course was 3 days long, located on the Glaciers of Mt Baker. On day one we learned how to walk on snow, self arrest, and a little bit about glaciology. On day two we talked about knots, how to set up a rope team, how to build snow anchors, and how to rescue someone from a crevasse fall using a technical hauling system. On the third day, we actually roped up as a team and went for a little walk on the glacier. We set up for the final lesson at a huge crevasse, and each person got the chance to be lowered into the crevasse as the team practiced a team haul to rescue them. All in all, this was an amazing course and a terrific life experience. It gave me skills for not just course work in Patagonia, but for personal mountaineering experiences in the future. We had a blast and I am so thankful that we got this opportunity. Some pics... Climbing trip Immediately following the mountaineering course we were all scheduled to work a 6 day course with NCOBS, just a shortie for a big school group that we get every year. The night we returned to base though, Max and Daniel both tested positive for covid. We had all tested negative the night before the AAI course, but we think that we got it from Max who got it from a student on his last course, not in the travel process. Either way, surely enough, the next day I also tested positive. So we couldn't work this short course, and we weren't very sick, so we went climbing. We spent one day climbing at Hidden Valley, in Virginia, and two days climbing at Breaks Interstate Park, in VA/KY. While I felt bad to miss the course and let the program down in that way, it was my first chunk of days off all season long where me and the boys actually got to just go climbing for fun. It was a great trip, Daniel and I both sent 5.11 climbs on lead for the first time, and I felt surprisingly strong for not having climbed much since the spring. All in all, things worked out just fine. Just a few pics... What's next? Well that brings us up to the present day. Hopefully, with a negative covid test in the next 3 days, I will fly to Chicago soon for a weekend with my friends from high school. Then, I have 4 weeks off in September to rest up for the mountains phase of the fall semester for the second year in a row. Not sure yet what September will fully look like, but at least it will include more rest days than the past two months did! That's what I've got for this update. It's been one heck of a summer season.
Honestly, not much has been happening. Wild how a robust month working in the outdoors can feel almost mundane. It's been the same old, some course work, some climbing work, some training. It's a happy and healthy life. Here's just a few pics on this short update. Well that's all I've got right now. In 4 days I start work for a 28 day course with UNC students. It starts on July 1, so the chances are pretty good I won't be posting a July blog. Anyway. Just a warning for my 4 dedicated fans. Talk to you next in August.
It has been an awesome month and a half since my last post! I've spent that whole time working at NCOBS, with the exception of one weekend trip to NYC. Per my usual there has been plenty of climbing, hanging with friends, and otherwise enjoying the outdoors. Here are some photos to tell the story: At the end of April was lots of climber staff training. Pictured from L to R is Spencer, Daniel, Max. We spent 3 days in the Brevard area learning about the climbing sites at our other base camp, Cedar Rock. The day this photo was taken, we were out for some recreational climbing on the North Side of Looking Glass (big granite dome in the background). Daniel (in grey) summiting Cedar Rock after after a multi-pitch climb. One of the reasons I think our climbing program is so cool is that we have a 3 day progression to multi-pitch for students. On this climbing training, we took time to climb all of the student routes so that we can be ready to lead them with students following us. In the background, that massive worm shaped mountain is Looking Glass. South Pisgah Rocks! While staying at Cedar Rock for this climbing training, it was great to hang out with my friends. Cheesy, sure, but they are the reason I love this pursuit so much! Danielle on the left and Max on the right. My parents and Ernie visited me in Asheville then base camp! It was SO SPECIAL to share my life with them. Especially base camp, the place I've called home for 3 long seasons and talk about endlessly. We got to hike Table Rock and they were able to meet a number of my friends. What joy! Pictured is our lunch stop during our drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I returned to Table Rock to find some intense rain. Like, 5 straight days of intense rain. I was so thankful not to be instructing in the field during that time! I did work a climbing day for one of the crews out during this time. Pictured is my friend and colleague, Karthik, walking to set up some top ropes for that climbing day. I am really enjoying the climbing specialist role. It is super cool to see a crew in the middle of their process, and hopefully facilitate a component of their course that they find fun and impactful. It is also really awesome to go home and shower and sleep in a bed after working in the rain all day. That's all I have for an update! The spring season is about to come to a close and it has been a really productive, happy, and healthy time. I am very excited for the summer season to get underway. No complaints from me!
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