climb a rock wall

Apparently next week I’m using a coupon to go through an Intro to Climbing class. Considering I couldn’t even lift my own body weight as gymnastics last week, this should prove interesting. though I really can’t say I believe I’m the only person they’ll have taught who can’t lift themselves. Either way, this contributes to my goal of making my body less heavy and more able to move and climb.

I tried, and I didn’t get very far, so I’m gonna keep this one on for now :)

I’ve wanted to do this for only about as long as forever, and in my gym class we’re finally climbing the rock wall out in the woods! Yesterday we learned how to put the harnesses on and how to lock all the ropes up so hopefully I can climb by Tuesday.

I’m so excited, I love doing things like this. Being 38 feet up in the air after climbing a rock wall. It’s gonna feel so awesome being up there, especially because none of the other girls in my gym class wanna do it. :)

I did this in April 2005. It was a thing to overcome my fear of heights. Yay!!

as if life wasn’t difficult enough already.

I am the least athletic person of anyone I know….really! Hoever, when the opportunity came up for me to try this, I couldn’t resist. It was on a one week class trip to Anzere Switxerland, famous for hiking trails, skiing, and yes, rock climbing. My kids flew up the rock walls (both easy and difficult) and I thought it would be simple…NOPE not for me, but I made it up about half way, and am very proud of that! It is a challenge to the oddest muscle groups in your back and chest, but so worth it. GO FOR IT!

i work at legoland at the rock wall. i tried it once, but so far i’ve only been able to go halfway. i work at the rock wall again on thursday.. i’ll try to make it to the top this time.

I’ve always wanted to climb a rock wall and I finally got my chance at Boomers the other night. I told the guy that I had never done it. He strapped me in a harness and he allowed me to choose hard, medium or easy (note some kids were on the easy) so I choose the medium wall. About half way up I suddenly remembered that I have a great fear of heights and a panic attack started. Focusing on a 6” piece of plastic in front of me allowed me to regain control until I was 3/4 of the way and about to quit. The girl next to me on the easy wall just rang a bell at the top. Now I was stuck. Do I drop down without ring the bell and everyone will know that I couldn’t make it or keep going? I kept going and even reached out for the overhang to ring the bell. Now how do I get down? I started to slowly lower myself and then slipping and spinning my back to the wall I slowly came to the ground. Unable to keep my feet under me I finally rested my butt on the ground. Glad to have done and probably would be stupid enough to try again.

I went rock climbing again today, for the second time ever. It was a little bit easier, and I completed the one wall that I had trouble with last time I was there. I feel better at it, but only completed two runs total. Both were moderate in difficultly level, and took like 5 minutes/each. It was cool to be able to skip over the easy course and to be faster than I was before. I tried the “natural” wall, which had more cracks and fewer good hand/foot-holds, and I made it about halfway up that one before having to give up from fatigue.

My forearms hurt the worst afterwards, and my fingers are really stiff. The girl that was belaying us showed me that I could change my grip and that would help; you kind of tightly curl your fingers and lock them like that. (Not a fist, but the back of the hand is in a straight line, up to the bottom knuckle of each finger.) I will give that a shot next time.

... and it was a lot less scary than I originally thought. I got caught up in trying to concentrate on what I was doing, and the height didn’t bother me at all.

But, then again, it was a lot harder than I thought as well. The difficulty in just finding a good handhold or foothold is crazy, and it requires so much coordination. Many times I would reach out to grab a handhold, and it wouldn’t have any grip to it or it would just be really awkward. I absolutely respect rockclimbers now. My fingers are all stiff and it was definitely a good upper body workout. We’ll see how sore I feel tomorrow.

I think the trick to it is to make sure you have good footholds first, before you make a move. Cause if you leave all your weight on your arms, the strength goes out of them real quick.

I would definitely go again, but don’t think I’ll make a regular habit of it.