How well do we actually climb?

Hi Guys,

So. Didn't do so good with photo's today so looks like you'll be reading a thousand words instead. We are now into our second day of trips at camp and today we had rafting, lake, treetops, sundeck and rock climbing.

I went on the rock climbing trip today and for the first time at camp I wasn't driving the van to the activity so I got to see the benefit of the conversation on the way to X-rock today. Here at Kivu we have a rather awesome tradition of doing a name game on every trip. Kind of funny since we know most names by the second day but what is most fun about it is the questions that follow the name. Prime examples would be "If there was a condiment that described your character, what would it be and why?" or "What are the top three characteristics you would like in your future husband or wife?" All great starters for quality conversation because despite how random those questions sound its gives a window into peoples character and almost always leads to other conversation.

The next part of the journey is the actual climbing. Today we had really competent climbers! The crew was made up of Bradley Poos, Ryan Geiseking, Ryan Clark, Camren Offerman, Jude Marji, Caroline Decker, Caroline Fairly, Allie Anthony, Liz Young, Ellie Braud, Bryson Fletcher and Melanie Hancock. All of them climbed hard and beat their expectations. We had one wall where we were timing everyone as they climbed it and everyone was beating their times as we gave them more than one turn. Some standout performances were from Camren and Bradley. Both of them started at around 45 seconds and ended up getting to around 10 seconds. Bear in mind that this is up a thirty foot rock wall with inch wide ledges that they had to hold onto and stand on. Pretty impressive I think!

I was super proud of the guys for achieving that but also so excited with the way they joined in. I had both Ryan Geiseking and Bradley belaying with me at different parts of the afternoon, we had Caroline Decker giving explanations of climbing movements to her friend Ellie while she was on the wall and everyone was helping everyone put their harnesses on the right way round (Super important!). Made for a fun day with achievements and conversation being the true highlights of what we experienced as a group today.

Thanks for reading and thank you to all the parents who have sent their children here. It would not be the same without the character each camper brings with them and we appreciate that so much. Talk soon.

Jock barr