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This was a really special climb for me. I felt like I was reaching back in time 10 years to tell 16 year old me that it's gonna be okay :)

And it was a very educational editing process as I weaved this story together. I was genuinely nervous to edit the film and post it. I'm embarrassed about how I handled some elements of this projecting process, will people see that I'm a flawed human and decide they don't like me for it?? What if people think I'm a total b*tch because I'm not smiling and happy the whole time like I usually am?? It can be easy to forget the vulnerability that comes with having a very public YouTube channel; it opens up the floodgates to so much unsolicited scrutiny, and I'm not so good at dealing with it yet. But I'm getting better, and I always wished I had someone who was so vulnerable and honest and flawed who better represented my communities. To show me that I could do it, too.

Huge thank you to Carlos Mason (  / carlosmason  ) for dangling from a rope filming for a week listening to me suffer and cry until I sent the rig haha. And to Ryan Broomberg for bringing the film to life with beautiful coloring. So many more thank you's needed here, but I'll just say how grateful I was for the entire Smith Rock climbing community. I travel solo, so projecting can feel extra daunting sometimes without a regular belay partner. Not only did everyone take turns climbing with me at the crag, especially the other women in the community, I was also lent a light rope for redpointing, static lines for filming (which Bryan rigged from the top at like 5am for the send?!), and multiple friends (and my mama) who came just to support and belay.

This one took a second to post, I've been nonstop sick since I sent the line (yes, that's multiple months) and think it probably has something to do with large amounts of stress 😅 2024 might not be off to the healthiest start, but I've decided to post biweekly on YouTube rather than every week for a more sustainable schedule and ideally creating higher quality videos from the extra time! Hoping to secure more video sponsorships in 2024 to make this schedule more financially stable, but until then I'm figuring that my mental health is certainly worth the penny pinching 😋

Slab is sexy stickers: https://annahazelnutt.etsy.com

#SmithRock #ToBoltOrNotToBe #Climbing