Beth had in three years become solid, leading 5.11 on gear and 5.12 on bolts. With the enthusiasm of a new climber, she'd call to tell me about leading every pitch on the Naked Edge, climbing her first Diamond route, or redpointing a 12b sport route - "and oh, yeah, I won the race last weekend."
I started to have ideas about doing big routes together some day, but Beth's racing and training scheduled was far too intense to indulge in a lot of climbing time. The most she could manage was the occasional half day and weekends at the crag. Her only regret in life was that she didn't have more time to climb — until that afternoon at Eldorado when she lost the use of all her muscles below her top ab, and with them, her years of work as a biathlete and mountain biker.
Incredibly, a year and a half after the accident, we were on the side of El Cap, doing Beth's first big wall. As I led a pitch, Beth turned to Russ in delight and said, "You know what? I haven't even thought about being paralyzed all day!"
"Then it's all worth it," he replied, smiling.
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