Closing Time

Mile Marker 8144: 

I am crying over a rock gym.

I know it's just a beat-up old building with high ceilings and faded rock holds.  But I can't help it.  

I'm just not ready to say goodbye.  It's been 8 years -- and 8,100 miles -- since I first set foot at Go Vertical.

That was for a rock climbing clinic with Prosthetic Innovations.  Back then, I was 9 months post-accident and 5 months past my 13th surgery.  I was still learning to walk on my prosthetic leg, but I craved a real workout.

And I got one.

My first climb was on a high wall with a cave-like indentation near the top.

I yanked myself upward, all skinny arms and fresh scars, weighed down by a brand new limb made of carbon fiber and titanium.

I tried again and again to place my prosthetic foot on the holds.  My arm muscles gave out quickly.  My right calf quaked.  I didn't quite top out.

Almost...

But something even better happened.  I felt more ABLE on that climbing wall than I had throughout my entire recovery.

I was hooked.

I kept coming back.  Over time, I took a belay class.  Developed a regular routine.

And made awesome friends :)

Did you know Go Vertical was the first rock gym in Philly?

Circa 2000

Now, 20 years later, the holds are worn smooth by thousands of hands.  The foam floor has gaps where the duct tape is peeled back.  And there's one "dark wall" where a light bulb has been out for months.

I love it.

On weekend mornings, the floor is an obstacle course of coffee cups and backpacks.  When the heater breaks in the winter, we climb in jackets and hats.   And when the A/C goes out in the summertime, we help ourselves to free Gatorade from a makeshift cooler.

Go Vertical may not be as fancy as the new gyms.  But it has the highest walls and the steepest overhangs.

The coolest people and the warmest welcomes.

There's no place I'd rather be.

At Go Vertical, I found my strength and confidence again.  I learned to adapt, strategize, and embrace my differences.
  

(Thanks for the tune-up, Ihba!)

With encouragement from friends -- and coaching from Michael -- I discovered with surprise what my new body could do. 

It turns out, almost anything!

At Go Vertical, I climbed in 4 prosthetic knees and tore through the toes of nearly a dozen climbing shoes.

Spilled a lot of chalk too!

At Go Vertical, I started at rock bottom and climbed to the top of my game.

In the process, I discovered a sport called paraclimbing.

And that took me to places I never imagined!

We knew time was running out.  But it's the night before, when we're officially notified:

Go Vertical is closing its doors on December 31.  Come climb for free.  Get your stuff and say goodbye.

I'm up early and waiting outside with a few other climbers before the building opens.  Ihba unlocks the padlock and raises the security gate one last time.  Inside, it's dark and quiet.  The cavernous space echoes, full of somber shadows.

But in minutes, climbers are everywhere.  It's like a party.  The gym is packed.  There are more coffee cups and backpacks on the floor than I've seen a long time!

We climb like there's no tomorrow.  Because there's not.

Between climbs we hug, and laugh, and snap photos.

We talk about what brought us here in the first place and what Go Vertical has meant to us along the way.  I hear tales of recovery from illness and injury, and struggles through change and loss.  We climb here all the time, yet somehow we've never shared these things before.

I realize I'm not the only one
who rebuilt her life on these walls.

Time races by on the clock behind the desk.  The smell of cheesesteaks fills the gym.  It's New Year's Eve...

...and the end of an era.

Five hours later, I clip in for one last climb.  I choose the wall I climbed 8 years ago -- the high one with the cave at the top.

It's not my best climb.  My prosthetic foot slips off the holds.  I misread the route and scramble to grab whatever I can.  Michael gives me beta, but by now I'm just exhausted.  All I have left is adrenaline and love.

Eventually I reach the top.

And spend a few extra seconds up there
to leave something behind...

I wish this day would never end, yet it's time to say goodbye.

A few more hugs and I push through the glass doors into the late afternoon sunshine.  When I glance back, the old building seems to glow.

That's how I'll remember it.

I'm so grateful for this gym and its community.  They've made my life better in ways beyond words.

It may be closing time, but I'm not finished climbing.

Farewell Go Vertical.

You'll always have my heart.

There's a new year ahead.  It's time to climb on.


(Click here to see a video of my very first climbs.  Thanks to Prosthetic Innovations for introducing me to GV and rock climbing!)