Climbing an alpine tower is something everyone should have a chance to experience. They are typically found at youth group camps and are approximately 45-60 feet in height. Generally, there are three base routes that an individual can take. Each one has their own level of difficulty attached to them, like floating poles, hanging cargo net, and hang down ropes. Along with the random obstacles that a climber can face, getting your footing is not always the easiest task. Sometimes you want to reach something and just do not have a peg to put your foot on.

A few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to climb an alpine tower again. As a child, I went to youth group camp for many summers and they had an alpine tower. I already had an idea of how to put the harness on and the different commands that you use to communicate with the belayer. Something I did forget was how much upper body strength you have to use and how important it is to have a supportive team on the ground that encourages you throughout the climb.

I got ready for the climb by getting my harness on and making sure to double strap all of my loops so I can’t see any red lines on the belt loops. I had to wait my turn in line, as there were about thirty of us and only three people could go at a time. While I waited, I watched about half of the climbers make it to the top. This made it seem like climbing the alpine tower was going to be as easy as I remembered. Then, it was my turn to tackle the beast of a tower. I placed the helmet on my head and loosened the straps a little to fit my big head. I listened to the belayer give me instructions while she put all of the clips and ropes through my harness. When she was done, I was ready to climb the tower. I chose to take the most challenging route out of the three. I chose this one because I do not climb alpine towers often, and thought “why not challenge myself.”

I exchanged the commands with the belayer “on belay” and “climb.” She responded back “belay on” and “climb on.” After “climb on,” I started the climb. At the very bottom, the foot pegs were rather large. This made the very beginning quick and painless to climb. Once I climbed up a few more yards, the pegs got a lot smaller. I started having difficulty getting good footing on the tower. I began to have to start finding other alternatives to put my feet on. To stabilize myself, I used the ropes that tied the logs together or I hugged the log with my legs. There were times that I wanted to stop, but there were always people on the ground level cheering me on and supporting me. Someone else who was a big help was my belayer. She told me different strategies to make my climb up the tower easier, as well as told me places where I could get better footing. The biggest challenge was the last part, which were the hanging down ropes. These were thick white ropes that had knots in them. I had used my whole body to pull myself up the ropes. When I was trying to get my feet to reach the level of the knots, I looked similar to a fish squirming out of water. Eventually I had enough strength to pull myself way up the rope. Even though I was fatigued, I hoisted my body onto the top platform, using the help of another log.

I finally reached the top of the alpine tower. Climbing the tower was a lot harder than I remembered. We were in Capitan, New Mexico, so there were green mountains on all sides. The view from the top of the 45 foot tower was an amazing one. Another girl reached the top of the tower the same time I did and so we decided to celebrate our accomplishment by taking a selfie on the top of the tower. I learned a few valuable lessons from this climb. It is important to have a strong support group who can help people accomplish great things and you need to push yourself, even when you want to give up.