go rock climbing outdoors

It was 6 weeks ago that i was just about to go climbing out at Mt Alexander with my climbing partner when i hurt my knee (at ba gua training, not during climbing!). It would have been the first time i had climbed outside, and now i’ve been set back on this at least three months, probably more like 5 months as winter is not long away. :-( Ah well, patience is a virtue so they say…

I was going to wait until I had everyone’s pictures do I could upload them all at once, but it has been nearly a month and I keep forgetting.

There is a video, but Leana turned my camera sideways so you can’t see the video correctly. I tried fixing it, but it cropped it incorrectly.

It was a fun experience! I only wished they had trained me to do belaying at the beginning. I kept being the odd man left out so I didn’t get many ascents in. There are a lot of knots to memorize! I had the desire to buy some spare rope and practice.

There is something amazing about looking at a cliff and thinking, I can take that.

It was fun and I am eager to go again, but the task of getting a group together seems so daunting. Rob also left us for the Santa Monica store, so there goes an inspiration. I want to call him up some time. Going out there again would be a blast.

http://flickr.com/photos/hmatt/sets/72057594120174190/

One of the perks of working at REI are the many opportunities to learn from the demo programs of various companies. Our store had a raffle to choose which six to send from our store to the Rock On event in April.

Sadly, I was not chosen. I was the back-up person though and today I found out that someone had to cancel! Woo-hoo! I can go!

I don’t have much information on it yet, but I know a couple things. I have to pay $15, but I will get most meals and lodging for the event. Representatives from companies like Prana, Black Diamond, Petz and more will be there to demonstrate their products and answer any questions we might have. I’m sure they will have contests and give away all sorts of neat stuff! Or have wicked cheap stuff for us to pro-deal.

I know Rob is going and he offered to carpool with me. Rob was there for my first attempt at Beach City Rocks and he is relatively new to the sport as well. He definitely has the climbing bug.

That’s all for now, I will find out more information tomorrow.

I went to the rock gym tonight. I only stayed for an hour and a half though. I’m still trying to catch the climbing bug.

This time I had chalk and tape, so the experience was much less painful than my first attempt. I still need a chalk bag now though. I felt rather silly reaching for my chalk in a plastic bag.

All this is in preparation for the Joshua Tree outing this weekend. Saturday I’m going to try bouldering. I will need to buy some non-marking chalk at work tomorrow, along with a nice chalk bag. I’ll try to remember to have someone take a picture of me on my first attempt at climbing outdoors.