But lately, they’d been talking about trying something different. Not recklessly. Not to prove anything. Just to see what it felt like to rely only on their bodies and judgment, without metal and rope between them and the drop below.
They trained for it—weekends at the gym, early mornings on outdoor routes, practicing movement and balance, learning how their bodies responded when there was nothing to clip into. Their conversations shifted from how to place protection to how to read the rock, how to move deliberately, how to recognize when fear was useful and when it wasn’t.