Post-Graduation Climbing at Sugarloaf Mountain, MD

No pictures for this one (I really have to remember to start bringing my camera along--but even when I do, I'm so involved in instructing and facilitating that I forget to shoot pictures), but on Friday morning I took a group of girls from Mary of Nazareth school rock climbing at Sugarloaf on Boy Scout Ledges. They had just graduated from 8th grade and had won the contest to go climbing with two of their favorite teachers, who they teased with all the familiarity of newly-minted equals! The girls belayed and backup-belayed one another after they learned how to manage the rope, tie in, check one another for safety, and call out the climber-belayer cadence ("on belay? belay on! climbing? climb on!"). They all had fun and encouraged one another to keep climbing and keep trying, and I hope they come out for another program sometime soon!