Fuzzy and I have a rock climbing membership at our local rock climbing place, and I love going there! I'm not as good as my hubby, but I try. It's such a great feeling when you make it to the top. I'm learning how to be more creative with my footing and hand holds. Plus you have to position your body in such a way that you don't get tired too quickly, so instead of using your arm muscles you're supposed to use your legs. Kinda like a monkey hanging on the rocks, rather than using arm muscles to cling to them. I get tired so quickly! So I took some pictures, and I wanted to break down the whole climbing experience for you!
First of all there are different types of climbs that you can do. The first is bouldering, which is where you don't have a harness. You can climb freely (and it's not too high which is why there is no harness) and you're surrounded by padding so that you don't get hurt. The instructor we had told us that bouldering is more of a power exercise, where the ballaying is an endurance exercise.
The second is Ballaying. This type is where you are harnessed in and you climb pretty high! This one is my favorite.
Then they have lead climbing, which Fuzz and I haven't done yet. This is the one where you're harnessed in, but you have to clip your rope into the wall as you climb. SCARY. Fuzzy is really excited to learn this type of climbing, me...not so much.
So when it comes to Ballaying (what we did last night) they have different climbs that you can do. They range from 5.3 (easy) to like 5.11 (hard) plus each of those types has a certain letter like A, B, or C. C being the hardest. So it's kinda like doing 5.3 and a half or something.
My specialty? Mine is 5.8 ish. Don't worry that it's like the introductory range. Ugh. Fail.
Fuzzy's specialty? Well ofcourse 5.10 or 5.11! Geez he's good at everything he tries! This one is actually almost a 5.11! Guess what else? He just zipped right up this one... no problem.
The courses are easy to navigate cause all the rocks for that specific level are colored the same.
On this one I did the red course, and Fuzz did the green one.
All of the rocks look kinda dusty because you are supposed to use this thing called a chalk bag. It is a little bag that hangs around your waist, and when the rocks start to feel sweaty and you think you are losing your grip, you just reach in and squeeze the little bag of chalk (think panty hose filled with chalk powder) and then you have a better grip!
I am doing this with my fingers because I ALMOST made it to the top on this one. Geez it's a freaking 5.8! Intro
If you ever wanna come with us, just let me know :)
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