"Rock climbing is a challenge, but there's nothing more satisfying than
reaching the top of a cliff and knowing that you made it up with sheer guts
alone."
The man speaking was wearing a harness both on his waist and on his chest, although Jack, Daniel and Teal'c knew that for such a small climb as the rock face they were standing in front of, this was probably overkill. At least on a semi-experienced climber. The boys couldn't have enough harness to suit Jack.
He studied the cliff they were standing at the base of, and decided it was a very good one for the boys to learn on. There were plenty of hand and footholds, and there were already metal pegs that were called belaying pins in place along what Jack figured would be the route they were going to take up. These would be the places that the boys' ropes would be secured, to keep them from falling more than a foot or two if they fell. It also wasn't that far up. A couple hundred feet, which would feel like a mile by the time they made it to the top, but wasn't too bad. A good distance for the amount of daylight they had.
"Sheer guts and climbing ropes, right?" Jack asked, pointedly.
The man - whose name was Nathan, but had told them all to call him Nate – grinned, aware of O'Neill's concern for his kids. He also had taken a look at Teal'c and Jack and decided the two men were not people to be messed with. Even though it looked like someone had worked Jack over fairly well recently.
"Exactly. Sheer guts, harnesses and climbing ropes. Just to make sure you don't get to the bottom until we're ready to get to the bottom. And one of these for each of you." He handed out helmets, which made Jack feel a little better about the man's safety measures.
Jack watched as his boys each put their helmets on, and Nate went around checking that they had fastened them securely. Then he listened as the campers were given a very stern lecture on never messing with their harnesses once they had them on. One that Jack nodded his agreement with so the boys would understand that he wanted them to obey utterly.
"Have any of you climbed before?"
Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were the only ones who raised their hands, and Nate grinned.
"You're all Gumbies, then!"
Jack grinned at the term he hadn't heard since he, himself, was a Gumby. Which was a novice climber. The boys weren't sure if it was a compliment or an insult, so they looked at Jack. Seeing him smiling, they decided it couldn't be a bad thing, so they smiled as well. They knew Jack wouldn't allow them to be made fun of.
"Let's get your harnesses on." Nate told them, pulling out a stack of a dizzying array of leather, cords and buckles.
Jack, Teal'c and Daniel were a lot of help to the man in this regard. They all knew how the harnesses were supposed to fit, and they had far more control of the excited boys than Nate did. When Devon was told to stop fidgeting, he did it immediately, grinning at Jack as he tried to suppress his nervous anticipation. Once the boys were harnessed up – and warned again about messing with them – Jack and Teal'c put their own harnesses on, and then double-checked all the buckles.
Teal'c, because of his strength, was going to be the anchor at the top of the cliff, and he was going to be the one that made sure if anything happened, such as a belaying pin coming loose, they still wouldn't have a fall. There might be a cheese grater, but then only if Teal'c allowed enough line for the boy to fall and skin himself up. Teal'c had no intention of allowing any more slack than necessary on the climb.
Jack was going to be a belay station about halfway up the rock. He knew the boys better than Nate did, and as such, he'd decide when they reached him if they were too tired to finish the climb. The spot he'd chosen for himself was a good one; there was a small ledge that he could give the boys a rest on. He wanted them all to make the climb, since he knew how good it would feel to make the top. Especially when you were nine years old.
Teal'c went up the rock first, climbing easily. He was using the ropes, and securing points as he made his way up, just to give the boys a notion of what to do, but he didn't really need them. He wasn't even breathing all that hard by the time he made the crest. He waved to the boys, and secured the safety line to a belaying pin that was drilled deeply into the rock at the top of the cliff for just that purpose.
"Belay on!" Teal'c called, letting Jack know he was ready. Jack waved back, and checked his ropes once more, then thumped Shawn on the top of his helmet with a grin.
"You guys do what Nate tells you, okay? I'll see you in a bit." He looked up at Teal'c, and yelled, "Climbing!" to let the Jaffa know he was heading up.
The climb was fairly easy, as he'd known it would be, and Jack was soon at his ledge. He wasn't all that fond of heights – knowing fair well what a fall from even this distance would do to him – but he was stoutly secured, and he knew that the static and safety lines would easily hold him if he did somehow fall. Which he didn't intend to do. Securing his own set of cords to the belaying pin that was drilled into the cliff wall (again, for just that purpose) Jack waved down at the boys.
"Belay on!"
"Climbing!"
Andrew's voice was the first he heard, and Jack grinned. His dad had been right; the boy was tiny, but he was definitely scrappy. He never seemed to back away from an activity. He watched as the little climber progressed his way from pin to pin, hands and feet clinging to every hold he could find, and Jack's smile was no match for the one that was on Andrew's face when the boy made it to his ledge.
"Hiya Jack!" He was a little out of breath, but his legs weren't wobbling when he stood next to O'Neill.
"Heya, Andrew," Jack said, thumping his helmet. "How ya doing?"
"Great!"
"Good, then you're cleared to go on." He double-checked Andrew's harnesses, to make sure nothing had loosened on the climb, and then called out "Climbing!" so Teal'c would know he was sending the boy up the rest of the way.
"See you at the top, buddy."
"Okay, Jack."
There were no accidents on the way to the summit. Not for any of the boys, and not for Nate. When the climbing guide came up to Jack's ledge, he gave the Colonel a thumbs up.
"Your guys are great, Jack."
O'Neill couldn't have been prouder if they were actually his own kids.
"Let's see about bringing them down, now."
"Think they'll try rappelling?"
"I'm sure of it." Well, not positive, but semi-sure of it. Rappelling could be spooky at times, and some of the boys might be a little nervous about trying it. But that would be okay, too. Jack would just make sure they knew they knew that the going up was the hardest part, anyways.
When Jack followed Nate to the top, he was met by a chorus of cheers. The boys were standing well back from the edge as Teal'c had told them to, but they were all grinning broadly. And none were hurt.
"Ready to get down, now?" Nate asked the boys. The sun was getting a bit low in the west, and while they had plenty of time, he didn't want to dawdle any longer than necessary. Just to make sure they had enough time that they didn't need to rush.
The boys all nodded.
Teal'c was going to go down first, with Jack as the belay, and Daniel down on the bottom with the Z pulley – which was a rope that would be used to control the rate of descent. It wasn't so necessary for Teal'c, who knew how much rope to play out with each jump of the rappel, but with the boys, it was absolutely going to be in place. Jack would hold them from the top, Daniel – and then Teal'c, when he got there - would guard them from below.
Nate explained to them how to play out their rope, and how to bring it up short to stop their fall. He also warned them about letting out too much at a time. They wanted to jump, he told them, not plummet. The boys nodded, and watched as Teal'c started down, although they didn't see anything once his head vanished from sight, since Jack and Nate wouldn't let them anywhere near the edge.
Teal'c called to them when he was at the bottom, and Jack looked to the boys to see who was going to go first. Shawn stepped up, and Jack felt about as nervous as the boy looked.
"Don't panic," he murmured to the boy as he double and triple-checked his harness and ropes.
"I'm not nervous, Jack." Shawn assured him, although he was as pale as Jack had ever seen him.
"I know. You're great. Just make sure you lean way back, and don't take big jumps. I'll have hold of you every second with the rope. You won't fall unless I do."
With that last bit of encouragement, Shawn went over the edge, watching Jack as he began lowering himself. He was awkward at first, mostly because he was scared, but Jack and the other boys called out encouragement to him, and his tentative hops became a little more like jumps. By the time he made it to the bottom, he was an old pro, and his last jump was an impressive one that landed him right at the bottom. On his bottom.
"Good job, Shawn!" Jack called down as Daniel stepped forward and unhooked his rope and waved up to Jack that they were ready for the next one to descend. Devon was next, and Jack gave him the same little pep talk he'd given Shawn, reassuring the boy he'd be great. And he was. They all were. One by one the boys went slowly down the cliff and one by one Jack took a relieved breath. Then it was his turn.
He traded places with Nate, and waited for the man to brace himself and let him know he was ready, then Jack lowered himself over the edge of the cliff. Looking down to make sure there weren't any kids in the way of his landing spot, he rappelled himself easily down in a series of well-placed jumps. Landing at the bottom to a loud cheer from the kids, Jack grinned and took off his helmet, wiping his sweaty forehead with one sleeved arm.
"You guys did great," Jack told them as Teal'c braced himself for Nate's descent. Since there wasn't anyone playing belay on the top, Nate would only have the pins and Teal'c to stop him in the event of a slip. Something that really didn't worry Jack. The man was good. Jack wasn't worried that anything would go wrong.
Then it did.
Nate made a small error in a landing about halfway down, near the ledge that Jack had been on. The rock was loose in that area, something that wasn't anyone's fault. It wasn't visible or anything, just flawed inside the cliff. A small crack that grew with every winter as water flowed into it, froze and expanded it, then melted with the spring thaw... And over the past few years, the flaw had grown from the inside of the cliff out. This just happened to be the moment that the flaw became unstable.
Nate's foot hit one of the many extra belaying pins that had been drilled into the side of the cliff, and it hit it at an odd angle. The pin gave way, taking with it about a square yard of rock that had once been solid and was suddenly sliding down the side of the cliff, separating into dozens of smaller ones every time it hit another pin and broke up.
"Rock!" Nate called out the warning as soon as he felt his foot hit wrong and felt the side of the cliff give way. Jack looked up just in time to see a shower of rocks coming down on him and the rest of China.
"Move!" Jack had an instant to see who was closest to him, and with a powerful shove he pushed Shawn as hard as he could away from him and Teal'c. The boy crashed to the ground, surprised by the sudden move, but out of the way of the bigger pieces of debris that were falling to the ground, now.
"Jack!"
Teal'c and Jack couldn't move. Teal'c wouldn't let go of his rope, since he didn't know if Nate's own safety lines were compromised, and Jack wasn't fast enough once he had pushed Shawn. The rocks, most of them no larger than grapefruits and many of them much smaller, came raining down on them.
The man speaking was wearing a harness both on his waist and on his chest, although Jack, Daniel and Teal'c knew that for such a small climb as the rock face they were standing in front of, this was probably overkill. At least on a semi-experienced climber. The boys couldn't have enough harness to suit Jack.
He studied the cliff they were standing at the base of, and decided it was a very good one for the boys to learn on. There were plenty of hand and footholds, and there were already metal pegs that were called belaying pins in place along what Jack figured would be the route they were going to take up. These would be the places that the boys' ropes would be secured, to keep them from falling more than a foot or two if they fell. It also wasn't that far up. A couple hundred feet, which would feel like a mile by the time they made it to the top, but wasn't too bad. A good distance for the amount of daylight they had.
"Sheer guts and climbing ropes, right?" Jack asked, pointedly.
The man - whose name was Nathan, but had told them all to call him Nate – grinned, aware of O'Neill's concern for his kids. He also had taken a look at Teal'c and Jack and decided the two men were not people to be messed with. Even though it looked like someone had worked Jack over fairly well recently.
"Exactly. Sheer guts, harnesses and climbing ropes. Just to make sure you don't get to the bottom until we're ready to get to the bottom. And one of these for each of you." He handed out helmets, which made Jack feel a little better about the man's safety measures.
Jack watched as his boys each put their helmets on, and Nate went around checking that they had fastened them securely. Then he listened as the campers were given a very stern lecture on never messing with their harnesses once they had them on. One that Jack nodded his agreement with so the boys would understand that he wanted them to obey utterly.
"Have any of you climbed before?"
Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were the only ones who raised their hands, and Nate grinned.
"You're all Gumbies, then!"
Jack grinned at the term he hadn't heard since he, himself, was a Gumby. Which was a novice climber. The boys weren't sure if it was a compliment or an insult, so they looked at Jack. Seeing him smiling, they decided it couldn't be a bad thing, so they smiled as well. They knew Jack wouldn't allow them to be made fun of.
"Let's get your harnesses on." Nate told them, pulling out a stack of a dizzying array of leather, cords and buckles.
Jack, Teal'c and Daniel were a lot of help to the man in this regard. They all knew how the harnesses were supposed to fit, and they had far more control of the excited boys than Nate did. When Devon was told to stop fidgeting, he did it immediately, grinning at Jack as he tried to suppress his nervous anticipation. Once the boys were harnessed up – and warned again about messing with them – Jack and Teal'c put their own harnesses on, and then double-checked all the buckles.
Teal'c, because of his strength, was going to be the anchor at the top of the cliff, and he was going to be the one that made sure if anything happened, such as a belaying pin coming loose, they still wouldn't have a fall. There might be a cheese grater, but then only if Teal'c allowed enough line for the boy to fall and skin himself up. Teal'c had no intention of allowing any more slack than necessary on the climb.
Jack was going to be a belay station about halfway up the rock. He knew the boys better than Nate did, and as such, he'd decide when they reached him if they were too tired to finish the climb. The spot he'd chosen for himself was a good one; there was a small ledge that he could give the boys a rest on. He wanted them all to make the climb, since he knew how good it would feel to make the top. Especially when you were nine years old.
Teal'c went up the rock first, climbing easily. He was using the ropes, and securing points as he made his way up, just to give the boys a notion of what to do, but he didn't really need them. He wasn't even breathing all that hard by the time he made the crest. He waved to the boys, and secured the safety line to a belaying pin that was drilled deeply into the rock at the top of the cliff for just that purpose.
"Belay on!" Teal'c called, letting Jack know he was ready. Jack waved back, and checked his ropes once more, then thumped Shawn on the top of his helmet with a grin.
"You guys do what Nate tells you, okay? I'll see you in a bit." He looked up at Teal'c, and yelled, "Climbing!" to let the Jaffa know he was heading up.
The climb was fairly easy, as he'd known it would be, and Jack was soon at his ledge. He wasn't all that fond of heights – knowing fair well what a fall from even this distance would do to him – but he was stoutly secured, and he knew that the static and safety lines would easily hold him if he did somehow fall. Which he didn't intend to do. Securing his own set of cords to the belaying pin that was drilled into the cliff wall (again, for just that purpose) Jack waved down at the boys.
"Belay on!"
"Climbing!"
Andrew's voice was the first he heard, and Jack grinned. His dad had been right; the boy was tiny, but he was definitely scrappy. He never seemed to back away from an activity. He watched as the little climber progressed his way from pin to pin, hands and feet clinging to every hold he could find, and Jack's smile was no match for the one that was on Andrew's face when the boy made it to his ledge.
"Hiya Jack!" He was a little out of breath, but his legs weren't wobbling when he stood next to O'Neill.
"Heya, Andrew," Jack said, thumping his helmet. "How ya doing?"
"Great!"
"Good, then you're cleared to go on." He double-checked Andrew's harnesses, to make sure nothing had loosened on the climb, and then called out "Climbing!" so Teal'c would know he was sending the boy up the rest of the way.
"See you at the top, buddy."
"Okay, Jack."
There were no accidents on the way to the summit. Not for any of the boys, and not for Nate. When the climbing guide came up to Jack's ledge, he gave the Colonel a thumbs up.
"Your guys are great, Jack."
O'Neill couldn't have been prouder if they were actually his own kids.
"Let's see about bringing them down, now."
"Think they'll try rappelling?"
"I'm sure of it." Well, not positive, but semi-sure of it. Rappelling could be spooky at times, and some of the boys might be a little nervous about trying it. But that would be okay, too. Jack would just make sure they knew they knew that the going up was the hardest part, anyways.
When Jack followed Nate to the top, he was met by a chorus of cheers. The boys were standing well back from the edge as Teal'c had told them to, but they were all grinning broadly. And none were hurt.
"Ready to get down, now?" Nate asked the boys. The sun was getting a bit low in the west, and while they had plenty of time, he didn't want to dawdle any longer than necessary. Just to make sure they had enough time that they didn't need to rush.
The boys all nodded.
Teal'c was going to go down first, with Jack as the belay, and Daniel down on the bottom with the Z pulley – which was a rope that would be used to control the rate of descent. It wasn't so necessary for Teal'c, who knew how much rope to play out with each jump of the rappel, but with the boys, it was absolutely going to be in place. Jack would hold them from the top, Daniel – and then Teal'c, when he got there - would guard them from below.
Nate explained to them how to play out their rope, and how to bring it up short to stop their fall. He also warned them about letting out too much at a time. They wanted to jump, he told them, not plummet. The boys nodded, and watched as Teal'c started down, although they didn't see anything once his head vanished from sight, since Jack and Nate wouldn't let them anywhere near the edge.
Teal'c called to them when he was at the bottom, and Jack looked to the boys to see who was going to go first. Shawn stepped up, and Jack felt about as nervous as the boy looked.
"Don't panic," he murmured to the boy as he double and triple-checked his harness and ropes.
"I'm not nervous, Jack." Shawn assured him, although he was as pale as Jack had ever seen him.
"I know. You're great. Just make sure you lean way back, and don't take big jumps. I'll have hold of you every second with the rope. You won't fall unless I do."
With that last bit of encouragement, Shawn went over the edge, watching Jack as he began lowering himself. He was awkward at first, mostly because he was scared, but Jack and the other boys called out encouragement to him, and his tentative hops became a little more like jumps. By the time he made it to the bottom, he was an old pro, and his last jump was an impressive one that landed him right at the bottom. On his bottom.
"Good job, Shawn!" Jack called down as Daniel stepped forward and unhooked his rope and waved up to Jack that they were ready for the next one to descend. Devon was next, and Jack gave him the same little pep talk he'd given Shawn, reassuring the boy he'd be great. And he was. They all were. One by one the boys went slowly down the cliff and one by one Jack took a relieved breath. Then it was his turn.
He traded places with Nate, and waited for the man to brace himself and let him know he was ready, then Jack lowered himself over the edge of the cliff. Looking down to make sure there weren't any kids in the way of his landing spot, he rappelled himself easily down in a series of well-placed jumps. Landing at the bottom to a loud cheer from the kids, Jack grinned and took off his helmet, wiping his sweaty forehead with one sleeved arm.
"You guys did great," Jack told them as Teal'c braced himself for Nate's descent. Since there wasn't anyone playing belay on the top, Nate would only have the pins and Teal'c to stop him in the event of a slip. Something that really didn't worry Jack. The man was good. Jack wasn't worried that anything would go wrong.
Then it did.
Nate made a small error in a landing about halfway down, near the ledge that Jack had been on. The rock was loose in that area, something that wasn't anyone's fault. It wasn't visible or anything, just flawed inside the cliff. A small crack that grew with every winter as water flowed into it, froze and expanded it, then melted with the spring thaw... And over the past few years, the flaw had grown from the inside of the cliff out. This just happened to be the moment that the flaw became unstable.
Nate's foot hit one of the many extra belaying pins that had been drilled into the side of the cliff, and it hit it at an odd angle. The pin gave way, taking with it about a square yard of rock that had once been solid and was suddenly sliding down the side of the cliff, separating into dozens of smaller ones every time it hit another pin and broke up.
"Rock!" Nate called out the warning as soon as he felt his foot hit wrong and felt the side of the cliff give way. Jack looked up just in time to see a shower of rocks coming down on him and the rest of China.
"Move!" Jack had an instant to see who was closest to him, and with a powerful shove he pushed Shawn as hard as he could away from him and Teal'c. The boy crashed to the ground, surprised by the sudden move, but out of the way of the bigger pieces of debris that were falling to the ground, now.
"Jack!"
Teal'c and Jack couldn't move. Teal'c wouldn't let go of his rope, since he didn't know if Nate's own safety lines were compromised, and Jack wasn't fast enough once he had pushed Shawn. The rocks, most of them no larger than grapefruits and many of them much smaller, came raining down on them.