Over the Edge: Moab Rock-Climbing Course

Climbing at "Wall Street"

She stands on the edge of the precipice, rope dangling into the dark chasm below.  Her anchor is secure, her belayer at the ready. Heart pounding, breath shaking, she pushes through the fear and over the edge into the void.

This was junior Katie Busch’s “favorite but most terrifying” moment of the Moab Rock Climbing Course. Looking Glass Rock towers 185 feet above the ground. After climbing this daunting slab in three “pitches” or stages, the students had nowhere to go but down.

More of "Wall Street"

“I was scared getting up there,” Katie remembered. “But I was terrified getting down.” Sitting on a precipice overlooking empty air, she had to push off the edge and trust the rope to hold her. “Going over that edge was the hardest thing to do. But when I did it, I was so happy. It was so fun. I wish I could go back and do it again.”

On the Moab Rock Climbing Course, October 2-12, 2013, students confronted the edge in multiple ways. Physically they had to learn to trust one another and to trust the rope as they climbed and rappelled in demanding and challenging environments. Standing at the top of a 200 foot drop, you have to know the person on the other end of the rope is trustworthy.

In the same way, students had to learn to trust one another as they shared about their fears and experiences...

Ekklesia Mountain High now has its own blog pages where we can post more pictures and expand the stories!  Read the rest of this story at the EMH blog here.

Ekklesia Mountain High is a boarding and day-student program for high school juniors and seniors at Darren Patterson Christian Academy, in which approximately forty days of wilderness experience and leadership training is integrated with rigorous academics in DPCA's Biblically-centered environment.  To learn more, please visit the school's website at www.dpcaweb.org, and the EMH program's website at www.emhweb.org.