The Fearless Femmes: October 2013

After a summer hiatus, and a cancelled event in September, we have been longing for the return of our regularly scheduled adventures. This month's activity proved to be the perfect kick-off for our next season of adventure. It was physically demanding and mentally challenging; requiring us to execute a series of physical tasks, overcome fears and give up control. What could be so perfectly perilous, so appropriately arduous for this group of brave Betties? As unassuming as it sounds, the answer is tree climbing!

Suited up for an adventure aloft!

As I like to do, I kept the details of our adventure a secret from the other girls. I did provide them with clues that would allow each of them to figure out the identity of our mystery activity with a little help from Google, but Meghan was the only one who came up with the correct recreation. For this reason, it was a loooong drive to Stagecoach Park in Olathe, and a welcome relief for some when we pulled into our destination and spotted the following sign:

If 8 year-olds can do this, surely it can't be too scary or vigorous...

Just beyond the sign, the next thing we saw was a BIG, beautiful Pin Oak tree with a massive trunk and sprawling branches:

As we approached, we found our instructors, Becky and Dan, setting up a series of hanging ropes, the ends of which you couldn't even see from the ground:

Even I, knowing what we were doing, had no idea what to expect. This set-up far exceeded my pre-conceived ideas, and I immediately knew my expectations for what we would be accomplishing that day were about to be blown out of the water. In short, I was thinking "holy shit!"

We were fitted with appropriately-sized harnesses, helmets and gloves and assisted with the proper fittings by Dan and Becky. I witnessed Seabrin tightening the straps around her waist right after Dan loosened them, explaining they didn't need to be that tight. There's that control thing I mentioned before. :)

Once we were all deemed suitably outfitted, we received a brief botany lesson and quick demonstration from Becky on how to ascend this beast, and were told that tree climbing is super safe... as long as you listen to direction and do what you are told. The first, and most important, rule was to always remain attached to a rope system. We were not to attach or detach ourselves, but to let Dan and Becky do all of this. We each picked a rope and our instructors attached us to our lines one by one. We were then free to climb away!

The gist of it is: put one foot in a foot strap, bend that knee up to eye-level, which creates slack in the line. Then, pulling with your arms, bring yourself to a standing position. This creates tautness in the line and moves you several inches off the ground. You continue this process, inching your way up the line until you reach the extent of your rope, or a height in which you feel uncomfortable surpassing.

Here we are just getting started

And here we are getting a little more comfortable (some more than others) with it all

The process itself of climbing was easier than I anticipated after seeing Becky's demo, but it definitely required a lot of upper body strength and some wear and tear on our hands. Brandi and I were the first two to start, and got the hang of it right off the bat. Meghan and Seabrin were next and were equally apt. Then came Jessi, whose apprehension was palpable. Dan immediately picked up on this and gave her a bit of a hard time, swinging her around while she hung upside down (as pictured above) to try to loosen her up. I'm quite sure that was a fail on Dan's part. Meghan and I were already red-faced from hanging upside down (on our own accord) at this point, and Brandi was leading the pack on our race towards the top.

As Jessi made her way up, she encountered many rogue branches and had to play defense against a number of stray twigs and boughs. The anxiety in her voice was giving Meghan and I good laugh, but we also sent her words of encouragement, validated that she had the most treacherous path of any of us, and cheered her success when she finally made her way to a clearing. After reaching this point, she decided she had sufficiently provoked and prevailed over her fear of heights, and did not care to go any higher. However, she realized she had no branch nearby on which to perch herself. She lamented, "I chose the wrong rope." Agreed, my friend. Luckily, Dan came to her rescue. Conjuring MacGyver himself, he made some slick movements through the tree, finagled a few ropes, and before we knew it he was reeling Jessi in and deposited her safely on a branch.

The many faces of Jessi's tree-climbing experience

The last to start were Meagan and Amy, and they were also the furthest away from me, so I have less insight as to their perception of the adventure, but I will share what I did witness. Meagan was very quiet the entire time she was climbing, I kept calling out to her, "Meag, are you ok?" She appeared to have the hang of it, and was climbing quite well, but was battling her fear of heights the whole time. Once she made it to the first branch, Jessi's branch, she straddled that bad boy and never let go.

Amy had the most trouble with the physical component of this adventure. Doesn't help that she spent a large portion of 2013 with a brace on her arm, atrophying her upper body muscles and leaving her legally 2% handicapped (milk it for all it's worth, Amy). With Becky's help, she was able to make it to a low branch, then surrendered to the tree. "It took everything I've got to get to this point," she said, and went on, "I'm all out of things."

Meagan, Jessi and Amy holding on, on their branches

At this point, Meghan, Seabrin, Brandi and I had all made it to the ends of our ropes and were hanging around on some of the higher branches.

These photos give you some idea of how high we were

Our ropes ended at a part of the tree where several large branches come together creating somewhat of a platform, which Dan referred to as "the living room." From there, Dan had set up one additional rope system that we could climb to a higher level in the tree. Meghan, Seabrin and myself took turns maneuvering our way into "the living room," where Dan attached us to the second line and we ascended that rope. At the top of this second rope it was quiet and still, and we were surrounded by a sea of leaves. I really felt like I was in the tree then. The air seemed crisper and the world more peaceful, up there. After a moment of serenity, it was back to reality with Dan and his off-the-cuff comments and innuendos. He absolutely loved every minute of his climb with the seven of us, and later that day sent me an email stating, "I can't remember when I had as much fun climbing." Right back at ya, Dan!

Just hanging around in the tree...

... being silly!

At the end of our time, and after we'd all felt accomplished and were getting hungry, we began our descent. To get down the rope, you simply reach your arm up above your head to a small wooden ball that is on the line and gently pull down on the ball. Once you "release the clutch" as Dan put it, it's smooth sailing. Becky was there to spot us in case it wasn't so smooth.

Gliding down our ropes

Despite sore muscles, callused hands and Brandi's legs "not working right" for three days following the climb, I think we all had a good time and possibly more fun than we expected. I'm so proud of Meagan and Jessi for facing their fear and doing something I know they did not feel completely comfortable, secure or sure doing, and of Amy for not giving up on something that might have felt impossible at the time. This was one of my favorite adventures to date, and one that definitely reminded each of us why we joined the club.

LOVE my fellow Femmes!!!