At least once a month I get ideas in my head of new things that I want to try, which for the most part I don’t have the time or energy to fit into my life. The most recent one for me is rock climbing. I think it would be pretty much the greatest thing ever to climb up the side of a mountain, and would also eventually like to get into mountaineering. The natural first step to train myself was to check out an indoor rock gym, see if I even enjoyed it at all, and then learn how to do it well enough to scale actual rock without major difficulty.
So I knew one of my friends went climbing a few nights a week and I asked her about it the other day. She was very enthusiastic about my interest and offered to take me to the gym on Monday, where she can get a guest in for free for the night. I agreed, and last night I headed to the gym. Holy crap is climbing up stuff the most kick ass thing ever. It felt so good to actually follow one of the marked routes and make it to the top. After about an hour an a half I was totally exhausted, my arms and hands were completely wrecked, and I had faced a good amount of failure mixed in with my few successes. I insisted on giving a route I had struggled with another shot even though I could hardly grasp the holds anymore, and managed to reach the top and hang off the bar. It was a really amateur route, but it felt so good considering I had been on the verge of calling it a night. I hadn’t felt a desire to push myself like that with sports since I took up skateboarding and snowboarding so I think this might be one I stick with!
The next step is going to be signing up for their comprehensive 10 week course and learning all the proper techniques, then climbing up real cliffs! I can’t wait, and I hear that you can progress with your skills at a good rate, which is always motivational as well. All I’ve been able to think about from the minute I left the gym is how much I want to go back and climb some more. I’ve certainly never felt that way upon leaving the regular gym, and my body feels like it got a more balanced workout as well.
