The following weekend after Jerusalem, I had made plans to go to a rock climbing festival. The climbing festival, Festipus, was located in Ein Prat (a Nature Reserve). Elliot and I met up with Brian and Madeline (from the Be'er Sheva ITF program) in Tel Aviv on Thursday. They rented a car and we took a bus to Tel Aviv. They picked us up there and then we headed to a rock gym right outside of Tel Aviv. Madeline and I needed to buy climbing shoes for the weekend so that we didn't have to worry about finding shoes to borrow. After that successful trip, we drove back to Be'er Sheva for the night. The festival started Friday morning and went until Saturday evening. We left Friday around 9:30AM and headed toward Jerusalem. Ein Prat is located about 10-15 minutes away from Jerusalem, so it really wasn't a bad drive at all. We got there around 11 or 11:30AM (due to traffic and the craziness of Israel roads) and immediately knew we were in for a great weekend.

We parked in the middle lot (about half way up from the climbing site) because the bottom lot was already full. There was estimated to be over 200 people at the festival this weekend. We immediately packed up our day bags with snacks and climbing gear and headed down to the climbing area. I was stoked to be there. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Essentially they had a few top ropes set up for general use on the North and South walls, but the rest were for lead climbers. Since we don't have the right equipment to lead climb, we used the top ropes. The first climb I did was surprisingly easy. I figured that it would be challenging because I haven't climbed in over a year, but I was pleasantly surprised! The second climb was a bit harder for me. I watched both Brian and Madeline go before I attempted it, just to see how they went up. There was only one part that I was concerned about because it had a specific area with very few holds. I struggled at that part but I didn't give up and actually made it to the top! It was so rewarding because I wasn't sure I'd make it. The reserve closed at 3:00PM that day because they needed everyone out by 4:00PM so we made our way up to the camping area where we would be spending the night. Elliot brought his personal tent so two of us stayed in that tent while the other two of us stayed in the large communal tent provided by the organizers. Dinner was included in our Festipus ticket so we got our plates, bowls, and silverware and headed to where the food was. There was a ton of food! They served couscous, vegetable soup, salad, bread, chicken, veggie patties, sausages, and more! They also gave out free beer later on, which was a nice surprise. We spent the remainder of the night hanging out by the campfire and mingling with the other climbers. It was a wonderful night full of good company.

The following morning we woke up around 7:00AM to eat breakfast, pack up our stuff and load up the car. We drove down to the reserve and were able to park in the lowest lot this time. The reserve opened up at 9:00am and we wanted to get there early because of the lines. Unfortunately, with the limited amount of gear available to borrow and the limited amount of top ropes, there were some lines. We headed to the South side to climb on the second day because we had not been over there. We waited quite a while for the top rope climbs on the south side. However, once one of us got to climb, we just kept switching off until we all had a chance. We chose to do one of the 5+ grade climbs. I watched both Brian and Madeline go before I tried. This climb was a bit more intimidating because it was a long climb and there were areas with just cracks in the wall rather than good hand/foot holds. That always tends to be challenging for me. I got stuck a few times on the wall and took quite a while to get all the way up, but after about 45 minutes of straight climbing I finally made it! It felt so good because there were plenty of times where I almost gave up. It's actually pretty cool to know I can climb for 45 minutes straight - even if it was only for one climb - that isn't an easy feat. I am very excited and motivated to start doing workouts specific to climbing so that I can get better at it. I am hoping to be able to climb a few more times while I'm here and we definitely want to go back to Ein Prat to climb again.

After that climb, we ran into some people we met the previous day. Brian and Madeline tried another climb with this extremely hard spot. I didn't even attempt this one because if they couldn't do it, then I definitely couldn't.. not yet at least. It was a really hard maneuver and very slippery rock so it was very difficult to position your hands and feet where you needed them to be. We are all motivated to try the climb again when we come back and hopefully we can all complete it!

Overall, it was an absolutely incredible weekend. I met so many new and interesting people and had an amazing time climbing. I absolutely love this sport and hope to do it more often here and possibly in the U.S. depending on where I end up next year.