Climbing Rocks!

Well, I had my first indoor wall-climbing session tonight. It was hella fun.

The largest part of the class was the safety equipment. To be able to belay
safely, the harness, ropes, etc. have to be in their place perfectly, and we
all MUST know how to do it. One person climbs while the other belays. In
future visits, I'll have to find other solo climbers to team up with.

It is a blast and very safe. Much safer than crossing the streets of my
hood. : )

It's tough though, climbing up. One's hands get sweaty and finding the right
rock to grasp or climb up to is hard.

I did pretty good. I wasn't afraid of heights once. And I have been known to
be very afraid. It helps that you are really looking up, not down. Each
climb path is marked by a numeric level. They start at 5.0 and work their
way up to 5.14. The ones we were on were around 5.6. Each hold is marked
with a color code and the climber tries to only step on those of the same
color. That way climbers can climb close together. Each climber is roped in
and the rope is controlled by the belayer. The belayer is the most important
of the duo. They make sure there is no slack in the rope. That way, if you
miss and slip (I did twice), you'll just be hanging in your harness. And
when you reach the top, the harness allows you to sit back and let your
belayer bring you safely down. That's the most fun part. I did that once.
: )

I highly recommend it to everyone who is into more *outdoorsy* sports. It's
a cool way to work out.

Martha

I would be scared to death. Elise.
"MH" wrote in message
...
Well, I had my first indoor wall-climbing session tonight. It was hella
fun.

The largest part of the class was the safety equipment. To be able to
belay
safely, the harness, ropes, etc. have to be in their place perfectly, and
we
all MUST know how to do it. One person climbs while the other belays. In
future visits, I'll have to find other solo climbers to team up with.

It is a blast and very safe. Much safer than crossing the streets of my
hood. : )

It's tough though, climbing up. One's hands get sweaty and finding the
right
rock to grasp or climb up to is hard.

I did pretty good. I wasn't afraid of heights once. And I have been known
to
be very afraid. It helps that you are really looking up, not down. Each
climb path is marked by a numeric level. They start at 5.0 and work their
way up to 5.14. The ones we were on were around 5.6. Each hold is marked
with a color code and the climber tries to only step on those of the same
color. That way climbers can climb close together. Each climber is roped
in
and the rope is controlled by the belayer. The belayer is the most
important
of the duo. They make sure there is no slack in the rope. That way, if you
miss and slip (I did twice), you'll just be hanging in your harness. And
when you reach the top, the harness allows you to sit back and let your
belayer bring you safely down. That's the most fun part. I did that once.
: )

I highly recommend it to everyone who is into more *outdoorsy* sports.
It's
a cool way to work out.

Martha

Good stuff, Martha. I used to do rock climbing in college (real rocks
-- they didn't have climbing walls back then), but haven't tried it
since. Maybe I will someday. My gym has a climbing wall, but it's
nothing compared to your new place.

Chris

"Chris Braun" wrote in message
...
Good stuff, Martha. I used to do rock climbing in college (real rocks
-- they didn't have climbing walls back then), but haven't tried it
since. Maybe I will someday. My gym has a climbing wall, but it's
nothing compared to your new place.

Chris

Our class was on one of the big walls, I got up about half way. Then, three
of us went to a smaller wall which was less intimidating. I'll probably stay
on the smaller ones for a while until I get used to it.

Martha

"Cox SMTP east" wrote in message
news:QDMqb.8635$iE.4586@okepread01...
I would be scared to death. Elise.

That's what I thought too, but it's not the case. It's extremely safe, much
safer than being in a car, for example. Even if your footing slips, you wind
up sitting in your harness, it's not a problem.

Martha

Oh, will you stop gloating! Damn... I want one of these gyms here
with the rates you pay to go along with them.

Not Fair!!!!!



On Fri, 07 Nov 2003 06:07:08 GMT, "MH"
wrote:

Well, I had my first indoor wall-climbing session tonight. It was hella fun.

The largest part of the class was the safety equipment. To be able to belay
safely, the harness, ropes, etc. have to be in their place perfectly, and we
all MUST know how to do it. One person climbs while the other belays. In
future visits, I'll have to find other solo climbers to team up with.

It is a blast and very safe. Much safer than crossing the streets of my
hood. : )

It's tough though, climbing up. One's hands get sweaty and finding the right
rock to grasp or climb up to is hard.

I did pretty good. I wasn't afraid of heights once. And I have been known to
be very afraid. It helps that you are really looking up, not down. Each
climb path is marked by a numeric level. They start at 5.0 and work their
way up to 5.14. The ones we were on were around 5.6. Each hold is marked
with a color code and the climber tries to only step on those of the same
color. That way climbers can climb close together. Each climber is roped in
and the rope is controlled by the belayer. The belayer is the most important
of the duo. They make sure there is no slack in the rope. That way, if you
miss and slip (I did twice), you'll just be hanging in your harness. And
when you reach the top, the harness allows you to sit back and let your
belayer bring you safely down. That's the most fun part. I did that once.
: )

I highly recommend it to everyone who is into more *outdoorsy* sports. It's
a cool way to work out.

Martha

It sounds like a lot of fun, Martha.

The girl who sits in the office next to me is a rock climber. She has pics
hanging in her office of some of her climbs. They also have one of those
portable rock walls setup in one of the malls for younger kids to climb.
My daughter and I usually grab a cup of coffee and take a break from
shopping to watch them. It's amazing how fast some of those kids scramble
up those things.

Beverly


"MH" wrote in message
...
Well, I had my first indoor wall-climbing session tonight. It was hella
fun.

The largest part of the class was the safety equipment. To be able to
belay
safely, the harness, ropes, etc. have to be in their place perfectly, and
we
all MUST know how to do it. One person climbs while the other belays. In
future visits, I'll have to find other solo climbers to team up with.

It is a blast and very safe. Much safer than crossing the streets of my
hood. : )

It's tough though, climbing up. One's hands get sweaty and finding the
right
rock to grasp or climb up to is hard.

I did pretty good. I wasn't afraid of heights once. And I have been known
to
be very afraid. It helps that you are really looking up, not down. Each
climb path is marked by a numeric level. They start at 5.0 and work their
way up to 5.14. The ones we were on were around 5.6. Each hold is marked
with a color code and the climber tries to only step on those of the same
color. That way climbers can climb close together. Each climber is roped
in
and the rope is controlled by the belayer. The belayer is the most
important
of the duo. They make sure there is no slack in the rope. That way, if
you
miss and slip (I did twice), you'll just be hanging in your harness. And
when you reach the top, the harness allows you to sit back and let your
belayer bring you safely down. That's the most fun part. I did that once.
: )

I highly recommend it to everyone who is into more *outdoorsy* sports.
It's
a cool way to work out.

Martha