Rock On!

EB is a good sport.  She's been dragged to soccer games, water polo matches, swim meets, countless practices and she doesn't participate in any of these activities.  She deserves a sport of her own and she's decided that's rock climbing.

We've made our base camp at Vertical Endeavors, in Warrenville.  They have amazing facilities.  Here's what the short walls look like on a Saturday morning before the crowds arrive:

This is truly EB's sport and it plays to her strengths in a way no other physical activity has.  It gives her focus:

It channels her stream of energy, and gives her body the feedback she craves.  No other OT activity centers her like rock climbing.  It gives her tremendous confidence.

EB is truly at home on the climbing wall.

There's another reason we chose Vertical Endeavors.  The company leads tours up Devil's Tower every summer.   When we visited Devil's Tower in the summer of 2011, EB was captivated by it.

I thought it was pretty cool, too and EB and I were scrambling over the boulders at the base in no time.

Now, EB and I are training for a summit attempt, next summer.  We've invested in gear and we'll be playing this sport together.  EB's so excited, she went as a rock climber for Halloween.

Here's a phenomenal picture of the Durrance Route, which is the way we'll be getting to the top of Devil's Tower.  

This is easily the best photo I've found, and I'd like to give credit (and link to a larger version) here.  

We haven't had any formal training yet, but we'll be taking a lot of classes over the next 7-8 months.  In the meantime, she seems like a natural to me.  She certainly got some oohs and ahs and she climbed the chimney:

Great job, EB!  Just 470 more feet to the top of Devil's Tower!