Monica tests herself...

With a month to go until Monica heads to McKinley, she's rounding out her physical training with some knot and prusik practice...

This week was another good week, devoid of aches, pains or pathological exhaustion. Sunday and Saturday were nice 3 hour hikes with 70 pounds. During the week I was back to CrossFit, thus back to "fire breather" status. For these 6AM classes I was the only one showing up, so basically I had all the attention from the trainer, meaning I couldn't cheat and shave any reps, couldn't take any breaks without him noticing. The week involved a lot of running, high jumping, rowing, lifting, pushing, throwing, pulling and squatting. I finished all the workouts with respectable times and loads.

On Saturday I also reviewed knot tying, which is not an intuitive task for me. About a month ago I had reviewed them and thought I had them down, but now it was like I'd never learned them at all. So, I committed them to memory again and will have to do some everyday, since in case of emergency it would be inappropriate to pull out a laminated instruction sheet. I also rigged some cordellettes into prusik loops on a rope hanging from a tree branch, and practiced ascending the rope, simulating climbing out of the crevasse. It worked great and I was having a blast except I then realized I had no way to get down! The prusiks were under tension so I couldn't ease them down, and my harness was under tension, so I couldn't clip out from my carabiner. I really wasn't too far off the ground, but for a few minutes I hung there, thinking this would be a really absurd way to go. I had no cell phone, no ladder nearby, and none of my neighbors were around. After much sweat and effort, I untied my harness and unclipped my leg loops and fell to the ground with no grace or dignity whatsoever. The good thing is now I know my harness and prusiks will hold me no matter what, so if I fall in a crevasse I am confident I won't fall off the rope and can get myself out. One month to go! Woohoo!