Resilience

By Colleen McCoy

I’ve thought long and hard about contributing to this blog. What would I talk about? How I came to Session Gym? Or why did I decide to start climbing in my mid-40s? Or, what drew me to move my climbing outside? Or maybe, I’d talk about my climbing injury? But what about the friendships that I’ve forged, or the ones that have extinguished during this journey? What has impacted me the most that I would want to share with the WLC community?

Last year, July 26th I fell climbing at the Leap. I suffered a pilon fracture of my left ankle. I had 3 surgeries in 6 months. I returned to climbing in February of this year. It was hard. Very hard. Slowly my strength, flexibility, movement and feeling on the wall improved. I told myself, take a year before you start lead climbing at the gym. Take a year before you climb hard outside. Take a year before you lead outside. Take a year before you put pen to paper. A good friend helped me to see that “a year” was just a meaningless time frame. “When you’re ready,” she said.

June came. July 26th would be a year. Things just started to feel right. With close friends by my side I began to lead at the gym, even take a few falls. I felt ready. I felt strong and safe.

I volunteered to host the WLC table at Lovers Fest ‘25 which brought me to The Leap unexpectedly. That Sunday, Petch (the owner of Lover’s Leap Guides) threw up the same route that I had fallen on last year, July 26th. I climbed it. I felt ready. I felt proud and competent.

Sidenote: That day I realized I had been off route last year, To the left by quite a few feet. I had followed the wrong crack. It gave me some context as to why I had taken that fall last year.

The following weekend, I found myself at The Leap again for a Self Rescue course on Saturday hosted by Lovers Leap Guides and Sunday for a WLC/Crags cleanup day. Friday was free. With close friends by my side, myself and Kalyanee Mam traded leads on Pop Bottle. We were there for each other. We gave support when it was needed. We gave silence when it wasn’t.  We gave praise when it was deserved. When we reached the top, both of us exploded in pure excitement! 

I feel ready!!!  I feel confident and brave. 

Watch a short, candid video interview of this moment:

Closing Notes:

Saturday evening, while I lay in my tent under the stars at the Leap, I replayed that experience from Friday over and over in my head and I took the time to read an article written by a man I had met the weekend of Lover’s Fest: Carving New Lines: Stewardship in Action at Lover’s Leap.  I had no idea he would write about the conversation that we shared as I hiked down to grab my lunch.  After summarizing our chat he wrote, “That kind of quiet resilience says everything about this community. They speak to each other like siblings—bound not just by rope and granite, but by experience. They’ve shared exposure on craggy spires, relied on each other with the full weight of their trust, and pushed one another toward new routes and personal edges.” This is so true. It is not about the end goal or the personal endeavors. It is about the journey and the people you share it with. Staying focused on that will always keep you on the right path. I will keep my focus up and I will keep listening to the quiet voice inside to hear when things feel right and I feel ready. 

Climbers are “People who work, sweat, and sometimes bleed for the sport that inspires them and the friendships it forges.” – Charlie Pankey

Thank you to my family, dear friends, and the Women’s Lead Club for encouraging my voice and to keep me going up!