Climbing 101

This weekend we began another round of Climbing 101. It's a 10 week course for adults to teach them some in-depth information about wall climbing. I am taking it!

Did you know we have one of the tallest indoor climbing walls in Western Canada? I learned at the climbing class this weekend that ours was actually the tallest when it was built. Ours is 60 feet (or 18.3 metres) tall. According to Keir, our Sports Scientist, "most" climbing walls tend to be 30 feet tall. It was nice to know that our climbing wall is not only respectable, but very respectable! I wasn't really sure myself.

In fact, until Saturday morning, I'd never climbed before in my life. It just always looked too hard.

The first class didn't feature much time on the wall, but that was okay with me. I am not really afraid of too much, but I did enjoy getting to know about how the equipment works before I strap it on and attempt to climb 60 feet! We learned about the main pieces of equipment that we'll use, the mechanics of how it works, and how to identify problems with equipment. Very reassuring! I am glad that we are being encouraged to be owners of our personal safety. I think it's a real confidence boost.

We didn't spend all of our time talking. We got to do some bouldering at the end of the class. Bouldering is when you climb without any support equipment but within safe jumping distance of the ground. We each had a couple of chances to make our way up the wall a little, and then along the width of the face.

I really enjoyed that people were engaged with helping each other find foot and hand holds. The climbing wall has several bulges that you have to make your way around, so you can't always see where to put your foot or hand. I found it both harder and easier than it looks. It was physically pretty demanding - I definitely broke a sweat - but it wasn't impossible to make your way all the way across on your first try. Out of eight people in the class, I think only one person had to jump down the first time. Okay well technically I fell off after one step, but I don't count that! I was getting my bearings. Ayup. At any rate, it turns out it wasn't too hard for me to do at all!

I'm really looking forward to this Saturday, where we'll get all geared up and do our first climb! In the meantime, here is a photo of me bouldering!

If it looks like I'm concentrating pretty hard, it's because I was! It's like climbing across a puzzle!

Stay curious,
Collette

« Previous | Next »