Jay Patti

     The water was running down the steep face of the sharp rocks, just a few yards off of the NCR trail in Parkton. The sun was vanishing by the second as I ascended to the top of this enormous fixture. Holding on for dear life, I took each step with caution, trusting both my grip and my spotter below, Ted Neubauer (12). It amazes me how something like this can come so easy to some.

     To most people, Ted Neubauer is your typical Hereford student who excels both in the classroom and on the sports field.  While balancing his numerous Advanced Placement Courses, Ted is a member of the varsity football team, where you can find him running the football on Friday nights.  Though he is very enthusiastic towards the sport of football, rock climbing is his passion.

     “It was something that my dad got me into at ayoung age,” Ted said.  Climbing is such a unique sport.  Ted mostly climbs at Earth Treks Climbing Center, where he can reach any height he wants knowing that he is harnessed in safely.  However, Ted prefers to climb with no harness, a technique called bouldering.  He sacrifices height for the pure excitement and adrenaline rush of free climbing.  Ted mentioned that he loves free climbing because it lets him test his limits, “But I’m always smart about it.”

     Ted and his father have discovered numerous, natural climbing locations throughout the Hereford Zone but recently took a trip out to Colorado to expand their horizon.  While visiting a couple colleges and universities, they found time to climb areas that Ted said “are different than anything that the East Coast has to offer.”  I recently joined Ted at a location in Parkton, where he was able to explain to me the difference in the type of rocks that Colorado possesses, while climbing effortlessly. Though he had been at this location before, he finds a new experience every time he straps on his climbing shoes.