Climb Every Mountain (II)

In her sixth year as the fifth grade teacher at KIA, Miss Carpenter has become synonymous with adventure. In fact, she is the sponsor for the schools "Adventure Club," which mixes the challenges of rockclimbing and mountain biking. Not literally at the same time, but at least once a month, Miss Carpenter takes as many students as dare out on the rock faces northwest of Kunming or onto footpaths west of town. Hailing from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Deborah has extensive experience in both activities, and while I can hold my own on the downhills of the mountain bike trails, she blows me away going up anything--rock faces or footpaths. In this photo, Miss Carpenter displays her climbing speed. She moved so fast I could not even get a whole body shot.
The Chinese call Kunming, Spring City, because its weather remains rather temperate throughout the year. While we have received one day of snow (none of which stuck to much of anything), the relative temperature throughout the winter has been rather mild, about 17 degrees Celsius. Also, the rainy season comes during the summer. So while it is relatively cool during the winters, it is not wet, which is nice. As you can see in the photo below, the sun can be a bit unrelenting, even in early February. These two Korean students, Esther and her brother (who does not attend KIA), hide from the sun under makeshift covers (their jackets). Asians place a high priority on light skin. The lighter the better. Dark skin means you work outside for your living, the sign of the lower class. A Chinese staff member who has travelled to Sweden could not believe her eyes when she saw people in Sweden sunbathing. It made no sense to her. We could not escape the sun on this day.
Audrey (the Texas Princess, as I affectionately call her) is a junior at KIA and loves to climb. I think her younger brother Noah dragged her out the first time, but she has needed no further encouragement for each subsequent expidition. In this picture, she clings to a resting spot and gives a big smile for the camera. The route she is on was only completed by herself and two of the adult chaperones (not me). If you ask Audrey what she likes to do, she will tell you "run." However, she is no slouch at climbing either.
Jeff, one of the adult chaperones, works as an arborist, and while most of his climbing consists of clinging to trees, he also can scoot up rock faces. In this shot, Jeff gives moral support to Esther, who struggled up an adjacent route. I was belaying Esther and assisted her when she needed it, but at less than 100 pounds, this little Korean is made up of mostly muscle. Jeff would evetually pass her and cheer her on from above. Esther completed her route like a champ.
The first time I went with the group, we had many more students. Therefore, I did not receive an opportunity to have a shot at climbing. This time, however, I went for it. I shoved my feat (pun intended) into a size 39-40 climbing shoe--I wear about a 44 street shoe--and gritted my teeth through three-quarters of the most difficult of the three routes. At that point, my body was jello, and it was time to head back to our vans. However, when I got back to the bottom and attempted to take off my shoes, I received a glimpse of what having bound feet must feel like. My feet had literally taken the shape of those tiny climbing shoes. In this shot, I have just completed the first section of the climb (the most difficult) and am on my way up. Don, another chaperone, had found a nice ledge--the beginning of another route--and was taking moving footage and still shots. A group of Chinese climbers also came by and started snapping photos. No one told them that I was probably the least skilled climber in the group and that Miss Carpenter pretty much hoisted me up the route. Oh well, what they don't know can't hurt them.