Over the weekend I went rock climbing with my wife and some friends. It was the first time for all of us, even though I always wanted to try this. I was ready to go as soon as I stepped on the platform. I've always been like a monkey wanting to climb everything.When I was growing up me and my friends would try to find the highest thing we thought we could get to and jump off. So this was naturally appealing to me.
Once I had my harness secured to the line I began to climb the wall. I started on the beginner wall to get a feel for the whole thing, especially the way down. After making it to the top the first time, I climbed back down. It wasn't until I was at the bottom did the staff notice and tell me I was supposed to repel down.
Grabbing hooks and stepping my way up the wall was fairly easy. I was at the top in about a minute. I was surprised by how easy it was for me. After knocking out the beginner wall with such ease, I unhooked my line and made a bee line for the advanced wall. This didn't work out like I had hoped. It is definitely something you have to work at and get better.
The nubs on the advanced wall were very small, they had no hooks to grip on, many of them rounded and facing in weird angles. I tried 3 or 4 times before being convinced I wasn't going to get more than 6 or 7 feet off the ground. It was tough. Then I moved on to the intermediate wall. It was challenging but do-able... I stayed there the rest of the time.
While you are attached to the wall you feel your entire body getting a workout. You strengthen your grip, arms, legs, and core. Your body gets tight after about 20-30 minutes of climbing. I felt stronger and more agile, it was a good feeling. We were in Austin at the Main Event there, but now that I'm back home I found a place close by called Stone Moves I'm going to go check out.
If you're reading this and have wanted to try rock climbing I would definitely recommend that you seek an indoor climbing wall near you and try it out. I really enjoyed the workout and am adding it to my regiment.
This is us on our first attempt at the rock walls. The repelling on the way down is just as much fun as climbing :)
This is Alain "Spiderman" Robert. He is an amazingly skilled climber, check him out.
