By Leanne Chapman, Boys Program Staff
Leanne Chapman relays the story of growth and renewal while rock climbing in Potrero Chico this past winter.
“You’ve got this Leanne!” I heard, along with, “C’mon, try to get to the next clip!” My hands were sweating, and my heart was pounding as I was analyzing my next move. I kept thinking to myself, “I can’t do it, I am too scared.” I inched my way up, desperately trying to work up the courage to keep climbing up….
I wish I could say that I was trying hard on a super challenging route, but that simply was not the case. Nope. I was doing a route that was very much in my ability bracket. The thing that I was sweating about was in fact a lizard. Yes, I was scared of a desert lizard. I am aware that this is ridiculous and that they are harmless, but our brains sometimes send fear signals to us that are not necessarily true. At that moment, my brain was saying, “Danger, danger, danger!” This is one of the many aspects as to why I love rock climbing; it is an incredibly vulnerable sport. It is a sport that pushes you emotionally and physically. It is a sport that teaches you about yourself, whether you are ready for that feedback or not.
I had the privilege of traveling with my partner, Mitch, and one of our friends to Potrero Chico, Mexico over our winter break. We stayed there for 7 days in an adorable rental place in the canyon, called the “Hobbit House.” It was Lord of the Rings themed, and yes, it was wonderful.
As soon as you arrive in Potrero Chico, you immediately feel that you are in a magical place. The mountains tower over the small town of Hidalgo, in an intimidating, yet peaceful manner. Mitch visited Potrero Chico in 2019 and was able to stay for a month, and he had been itching to go back ever since. This was my first time here and I was so excited to climb, explore another part of Mexico that I hadn’t been to — meet new people and eat delicious food. When we arrived in Potrero Chico in the early afternoon, we put all our stuff in our adorable rental house and headed out the door to go climb. With my climbing pack on my shoulders and the sunshine on my face, I felt like I could breathe. We hadn’t been climbing at all since Hurricane Helene.
We had planned out so many routes that we wanted to climb while we were there. We had a lot of plans for how we spent our time. One thing that we quickly learned was that we were still mentally and physically tired from experiencing the aftermaths of Helene. So while we did achieve many of our climbing goals, we also spent a great deal of time resting, enjoying the sunshine, and eating delicious mole and tacos.
Personally, I was more than happy to slow down a bit instead of climbing all day everyday. This aligned with the culture of the area as well. People were generally laid back, kind, helpful, and willing to take the time to chat with you. So we slowed down too. We took it all in. Some of the things we happily witnessed were goats screaming down the street, horses prancing around, festive music and dancing, and a lot of people gathered bursting with laughter. We were especially thankful to take some time to get to know our hosts, Carla and Julio. They were truly some of the most joyful, genuine, hard-working, talented, and thoughtful people I have met. Carla and Julio lived on the same property where we were staying, so they were always nearby. They take care of their properties, run a restaurant where they serve delicious pizza and mole, remain staples in the community, and make everyone around them feel like they are at home. In addition, Julio even makes incredible handmade knives and made one for Mitch that was engraved with a Lord of the Rings quote. Mitch chose this for his birthday gift and he couldn’t have been more stoked about it. I think it would be easy to look at a person like Julio and Carla and think, “some people just have so much talent.” While this is true, I could tell that they also put in the time, effort, and hard work to create the beautiful life that they wanted. These are the kind of people we are lucky to meet.
One of the draws of Potrero Chico is that there is an abundance of multi-pitch climbs. This is where you are able to do multiple sections of “pitches.” Essentially, some climbs are too tall to do in one single rope length, so you stop at certain points on the wall before continuing up. We were able to climb a few multi- pitch climbs while we were there, and it felt good. On the last full day we were there, Mitch and I attempted to climb a 15 pitch route called, “Voyage of the Trash Cat.” It was Mitch’s birthday and we were looking to do something epic to celebrate. We were hoping we could be the first ones on the route that morning and to be done in the early afternoon. On that morning, we woke up before sunrise, sleepily made a quick breakfast, strapped our headlamps on, and rode down the bumpy, dirt road in the dark. We made it to the trailhead, stashed our bikes, and made our way up the steep trail to get to the base of our climb. Hiking in the morning before sunrise always feels especially beautiful and peaceful. It feels like a simple way to unlock magic in our life.
Luckily, when we arrived at the climb, we were the first ones there. This made us exhale a sigh of relief. But, just as we exhaled, another group hiked to the base, and we knew we had to move quickly and efficiently. This route was a sport route, meaning it had pre-established bolts on the wall, but the style was more “trad” or “traditional” type of climbing. This is a style that I am still working on getting better at. Mitch, on the other hand, is his absolute happiest when he is climbing “trad.” We worked our way up the route and I could tell that it was one of those days that I did not feel “on,” it was like every move just felt a little bit off. I kept trying to push through both mentally and physically, attempting to make the best of it even though I was struggling. Mitch was absolutely crushing it and I was impressed by his ease to work through each pitch with confidence and competence. I was feeling a lot less graceful. Well, less graceful is a kind way to put it. I was not at my best and moves felt harder than they should have felt. I was feeling myself getting less confident too. So, after pitch number 7, Mitch and I came to the conclusion to rappel down and not to finish the route. We both have the strong awareness that while sometimes it is appropriate to push yourself, it is equally important to know when to take a step back. In the sport of climbing, knowing your boundaries is crucial so that you and your climbing partner can be as safe as possible. With a sense of defeat and understanding, we started on our rappel journey down. I felt guilty and disappointed in myself. I thought to myself, “How could I do this to Mitch? ON HIS BIRTHDAY!” But ultimately, I knew that we made the right decision. After getting back to the trail, Mitch met up with our friend and climbed an additional 5 more pitches on another climb. I went back to our house, posted up with a book, and basked in the sunshine. I still was working through my guilt of not finishing the route, but spending some solo time in the sun helped me come to terms with the decision. Mitch still had an incredible birthday and climbed 5 more pitches. We still had a beautiful day. And I am sure you can guess how we end the day, with more tacos of course. How could the day not be great when there were tacos involved?
I feel incredibly lucky to have experienced this trip. Every time I go on a climbing trip, I can’t help but feel an incredible sense of gratitude. I am thankful for everything that climbing teaches me. It reminds me of the duality of life. I can be capable and scared. I am strong and vulnerable. I can get scared of a lizard on the wall and still be a great climber. I can be disappointed about not climbing an entire route, and I can be thankful for the pitches that I did climb. Multiple things can be true at one time; we are not confined to one feeling at a time. I believe that learning this truth is what makes climbing special for me. It is a direct translation to our life: it is beautiful, hard, messy, and amazing.
