There are people who make overcoming obstacles, even those towering 40 very vertical feet high, look easy.

These rock climbers are the heart of Lilian Chao-Quinlan's climbing center business.

I think with climbing you have to trust your partner and you have to know they are holding your rope.

This takes teamwork which why Chao-Quinlan is frustrated by all the talk of another cliff looming in Washington.

There is so much uncertainty not just for me as a business owner, but for our members, for our climb tower.

With negotiation stalled on a way to the fiscal cliff, Chao-Quinlan is put plans to expand her business on hold. She is worried because going over the cliff will cost middle class families an estimated 2000 dollars a year, money people won't have to spend here.

It’s always challenging when you are in a recreational type of environment because that sometimes the first thing that people consider, you know, when they are evaluating their finances and, what am I gonna to spend my money on?

The fear that I have is that we are going to lose some customers and we are gonna to lose our shoppers. And we've been here for ten years.

For clothing store owner Lindsay Buscher, it’s been a rough few years since the recession. Now she says she is terrified we are on the verge of tumbling back in.

I think the facts of them not coming up with a plan is gonna be devastating. And I see a huge, a bigger recession.

The prospect of higher taxes next year means Busher is cutting back now. Training staff for January and February only buying clothing she sure will sell. Her goal is just to keep her business afloat.

My biggest fear is that my 7-year old will never really get a chance to see what I've built.

Back at the climbing center, Lilian Chao-Quinlan says there are lessons Washington negotiators could stand to learn.

Every move is gonna dictate the next move. But that doesn’t mean that you are locked into that move; that doesn’t mean you can't try something else.

Unlike climbing, she says, fiscal cliff hanging shouldn't be an option because so much is on the line.