Paul got in late last night, and this morning we woke early and headed to Jenny Lake in GT NP to meet our guide and start our training for our climb. Our guide, Christian, is half-Chilean and has a rather impressive resume. Really nice guy and extremely patient with my inability to learn how to tie any kind of knot.
After a morning of learning knots, steps, rope-handling, and different techniques, we completed a six-pitch climb near Hidden Falls. Beautiful area, fun climb, and supposedly a bit harder than what we will do on the Grand (though did not include 1000-foot drop-off's)...
We finished the day by practicing rappelling off a 100-foot cliff. Really fun, though also kind of freaky scary. Going up, you can go at a pace you feel comfortable with, make sure you have good foot and hand holds, etc. On a rappel, it's all on your rope anchors. And yeah, I know people practice rappelling off this cliff, but that doesn't exactly stay forefront in your mind when you're dangling 100 feet off the ground and the only thing keeping you from certain death is that freaking rope.
Jeana and the boys spent another leisurely day around the condo watching France beat Ukraine and England rally to beat Sweden (wicked goal by Welbeck, by the way). Then they tried their hand at tennis and did some more swimming before meeting Paul and myself in town for dinner and Jackson's long-running main street gunfight.
Tomorrow, more climbing for Paul and me around Teton Village while Jeana and the boys plan to do some hiking (probably up near Jenny Lake where we climbed today). Some of us may hit up a town rodeo tomorrow night, and then it's a good night's rest before the big climb starting Sunday.
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