We had finished the Feats Strength and managed to find a little time to grab another bite to eat and bottle to drink. More electrolytes weren't exactly the best tasting drink of the day but they were what was needed to finish a 30 hour event. and we were only about 8 hours in to it. Our fan crew had headed across the street to their viewing location of the Obstacle Course. They were set up in a shady spot where they could view and annoy the competitors on the first three obstacles. Cowbells, annoying or motivating? We liked them, thats all we cared about that day...
It were called up to start. we were to take the left lane. No one had been on the left lane yet this morning, and most likely, ever. we would be breaking it in. A good thing and, we were to find, out a not so good thing. These obstacles were designed to be modular. Each was basicaly a 10' x 10' cubicle with different means of scaling and crossing them. Some required teamwork, unless you could jump and reach 10 feet high, from an uneven surface, after 10 hours of phyisical strain. some required upper body strength, some required timing, some required all three...
The first obstacle was a half wall, the top half, starting 5 feet up. Jack boosted me up, I grabbed the top, hoisted my feet onto the 1 inch ledge at 5', set myself and reached down to grab Jacks hand and help hoist him from above. Sort of a top belay manuever. He jumped, I pulled. He made it up. On top we had 3 4x4 beams to cross, about 3' apart, to get to the other side. To get down we had to slither over another beam, grab a rope and sort of slide / rappel down. One down, 5 to go!
The second obstacle was three 6 inch logs spread and staggered out which we were able to jump up on to without any assistance, the crossing on top was a downhill tyrolean traverse, which we crossed by sliding over on our belly. To descend, we had to reach up to the top of the wall, climb up and over and jump down off a 1" ledge at the 5 foot level. Sort of the same as the Obstacle One but in reverse..
On the 3rd obstacle we were to meet a 'real' challenge. The access to the top of the 10' wall was to be gained by ascending a short, steep ramp, made out of formica, or linoleum, or some other ype of slick material. During our practice run on this obstacle a week earlier, (It pays to be local sometimes...) we were each able to run / scramble up this ramp with minimal effort. Unfortunately we had practiced on the right lane when practicing. No one had been up the left lane yet. We knew this as a fact when we looked at the un-tracked layer of dust, soot and ash still covering that side. On my first attempt I attacked the ramp wirh gusto, took the first of my planned 3 steps up the ramp, and promptly lost all traction, felt my knee, then hip, then my face smash in to the ramp barely half way up. Very Very slick. I wiped down the ramp with my hand as best I could then Jack took a turn at the ramp. He made it to his second step before foregoing the knee and hip warning and sending his face to within milimeters of needing surgery. I felt rather than saw his failure. I was headed back for my second attempt as Jacks wipeout had wiped down another couple feet of ramp. I believed I could make it on this attempt. I started another couple feet farther back, figuring more momentum would either get me up and over or maybe through the ramp. I ran, I leaped, I slipped, but only a little, my other foot hit, it stuck, it pushed, I reached, I looked up and found my fingers just over the ledge. YES. I made it! I heaved my body up and over the top, found a veritble spider webbing across the top, and set my self to assist Jack on his next attempt. I was reaching, Jack was approching, Jack was leaping, I was stretching. He made it up to my arms. We grasped wrists and I help pull him up the last few inches to the top. We turned and squiggled our way across the 5 horizontal ropes across the top, a one way spider web if you will, and swung down the rope on the far side. With Cowbells still ringing in our ears we proceeded through the woods to the next obstacle.
We approached the next obstacle, a minimal cubicle. A short 6 foot rope ladder hanging from the top. We had to reach up, grab ahold of the webbing, hoist ourselves, and try to place our foot on the barely 6" wide rung. We both amnaged to get up on our first attempt. Another Tyrolean bridge to crawl across, a one and half inch rope spanning the 10' gap. We inched our way on to the rope, maintaining balance by hanging one leg off and hooking the ankle of the other, while pulling our way across. Up and over the far side, an easy climb down and we were through 4 of the 6 challenges. Next up "feel like a monkey?"
As we approached the next cubicle we wove through the trees and down along a creek bottom. This obstacle would involve rope, rings and bars, monkey bars that is. We had to climb 10 feet up a rope then switch over to monkey bars. Once across the monkey bars we swung across to a lone ring. This ring was a challenge as we had to hit the small ring and then swing across to the remaining monkey bars on one try. We both made it on the first try, finished up the remaining bars, transfered to the dismount rope and swung off. Once again we were on foot headed to the last cubicle.
At theis last obstacle we had to jump up on to a platfor 5 feet high, grab a hold of a ring and tha surrounded a 2' pipe. The pipe ran the entire ten foot width of the cubicle. We had to hang out over space, then throw ourselves toward the other side and slide across while holding the ring. We bot mananged to make it across on one swing and were quickly on our way ton foot ttoward the lake.
We ran a along a single track trail, up hill, of course, to Bear Lake. Once up there, we each grabbed a life jacket for the 200 meter swim back across the lake. I heard a familiar voice and the unending ring of cowbells as we swam along. My daughter Audrey, was the target we were swimming towards. She had signed up to volunteer for this event and found as many volunteers jobs as she could during the day. She After she finished her 10 mile slog as sweep / or sag for the Crucuble hike, she was directed to help out athe swim portion of the O course.
No comments:
Post a Comment