Pulley Popper

My hand gripped the small crimp tightly as I shifted my weight to the right to get to the next hold. I felt my balance waver and tightened my grip to keep from swinging out. But then I heard it; the distinct popping sound that every climber knows and dreads. At first I tried to convince myself that it was just my knuckles cracking, but the searing pain a moment later made it clear. I had my first pulley tear.

Climbers put so much weight on their fingers that it’s no surprise that they are the site for most climbing injuries. Each finger contains a number of sheaths – called pulleys – that hold the tendons in place. When too much force is put on a pulley, it can result in a strain or a tear. Even the lowest grade pulley tear requires 2-11 weeks for pain to subside, and even longer before it can be used for hard climbing. It’s a devastating injury to someone who has decided to quit her job in order to spend time traveling and climbing.

Taping up my poor finger.

On the bright side, within 30 minutes of my finger injury, we ran into some old friends from Austin. They had recently moved to Chattanooga and graciously invited us to camp out in their driveway. This turned into an even bigger gift when John and I came down with a crippling stomach bug the next day. Some digging has led us to believe that we may have contracted a parasite from drinking water from the river at Foster Falls (we filtered it, but our filtration system is not 100% effective).

The best way to describe our energy level even after (mostly) recovering from being sick.

I will say that if I’m going to have to deal with illness, injury, and near constant rain, I would certainly prefer to knock them out at the same time. And somehow – despite all this – Chattanooga has impressed us and now tops our list of possible places to live after this trip is done.