In the beginning it seems easy, pulling equipment to the top of the ramp, everyone excited about what's to come, the opportunity that awaits us at the bottom.  Here the the chatter is lively, and people stay usy making some inal preparations on their equpment.  Just as everything begins to get calm those who have gnoe before us begin to emerge, covered in sweat with hard, beaten faces as they struggle to move upwards, fighting exhaustion withouth the adrenaline rush they had going down.  Here the mental battle beigins, we realize that soon we will be those tired, beaten people that are slowly emerging from the tunnel.  We must push past those thoughts now and focus on these next few minutes.  soon the call comes to begin our descent.  We move slowly, the ramp is steep and our equipment is heavy, a misstep here and someone gets hurt.  Soon we reach the bottom and the group spreads out, time now to prepare for our moment in the spotlight.  No one escapes the nerves here, faced with ten minutes to ponder what we must do when our time comes, we hear the crowd's thunderous roars, and fear begins to creep in, despite our best efforts to shut it out.  Has it been 3 minutes? 6? Everything seems to freeze in this awful existence, consumed with this agonizing wait. Finally we get to take the floor.  As we roll past the curtain muscle memory and adrenaline take over, we move without thought, having done this routine thousands of times in practice. All of our worrying was wasted as months of preparation managed to shove any fear and doubt aside. Our performance becomes a blur, and soon it is over. We exit the floor with the high that only the roar of a crowd ten-thousand strong can provide.  Smiles on our faces as we know we have performed well, but our task is not quite done.  We must struggle through the final physical obstacle te ramp can throw at us.  We slog bak towards the top, pushing with everything we have against our stubborn equipment.  When we finally reach the top we finally get to take a moment, catch our breath, and relax.  Taking comfort in the knowledge that we gave it our best shot.