photo by Pat GoodmanJessa Goebel, a 23-year-old rock climber and trainer who lives in Banner Elk, was the first woman to make several well-known Western North Carolina climbs—including a stretch called “Waste Not, Want Not” at Looking Glass Rock in Pisgah National Forest in Brevard. She started climbing at age nine and has consistently placed in the top ten at national and international competitions. Now she runs rock-climbing clinics and lessons through her Banner Elk company Climb Fit. “Climbing is 80 percent mental, 20 percent physical,” she says. “Usually people will come up with mental blocks about climbing. I help them realize they can do it.” —M.K.