Rock Climbing ~ May, 2004
Livin' on the Ledge
By Matt Kettmann

The thoughts raced through my head faster than the blood coursed through my quivering muscles. "I can't do it. I can't go any further. It's…just…impossible. No, wait! I can do it! Just one more grab in the crack, one more step up. Okay," my mind continued, "I'm gonna go for it." And with that, my foot found another tiny toehold, my fingers another cherry-sized crevice.

Those who've done it can tell by my description that I was rock climbing; it was my first-ever experience of the increasingly popular sport that's swept over Santa Barbara's sheer faces, rounded boulders, and precarious peaks. Just by noticing how muscular most climbers are, I knew that an afternoon of ascents would be physically tough, but the psychological challenge was wholly unexpected. In just two climbs up routes off of Montecito's San Ysidro Trail, I quickly learned that rock climbing-which also confronts the naked fear of falling-is the epitome of conquering the wilds of inside and out.

For my introductory lesson, photographer Paul Wellman and I joined Matthew Fienup, who leads climbs for the Santa Barbara Adventure Company. After meeting at the trailhead and trying on some super-tight climbing shoes, we grabbed a bunch of gear and headed up canyon. Along the way, Matthew showed his naturalist side, pointing out invasive and native plant species while urging us to smell and taste.

At the bottom of the 100-foot high rock face-where a father and his kids honed their skills together-Fienup strapped us into climbing harnesses designed to save lives and feel comfortable at the same time. We then scrambled up a gully toward the top, using the rope twice at potentially perilous parts. From the peak, Fienup tied in his ropes and taught us the finer points of caribiners as we took in the views of green mountainsides and a lush canyon all the way up to Camino Cielo.

Our first challenge-and the one that even by the end of day we remembered as the most frightful-was to lean back on the rope, hang over a 100-foot cliff, and rappel down. Fienup starts with the rappel for good reason: it allows climbers to gain confidence in the strength of the rope and quickly get over that nagging fear of falling.

Next was my first climb, up a face called "Peels of Laughter." (Climbers have an uncanny knack for coming up with the quirkiest names for routes.) It's listed with a difficulty of 5.7, which makes it an intermediate-level climb. I made it after some self-doubts and muscle give-outs, only once or twice relying on the rope to save my life. When I got down, I was happy to be done, but then Fienup questioned if my arms were shaking. "Not quite," I stupidly replied. "Well then, I guess you've got to do something harder," he said.

We moved a bit to the left, toward a crack-yes, just a crack-christened many years ago as "Applied Magnetics" by Patagonia founder and avid climber Yvon Chiounard. This one was a 5.8, though parts of it might be a bit harder. On this route, my mind went most crazy; I assured myself that I could not proceed. But, with the encouraging words of Matthew, I made it all the way to the top. My body was exhausted, my mind was over-spent, but my spirits were high.