Rock Climbing

I went indoor rock climbing last night, for the first time in my life.  The Lunatic took me.  I had a BLAST!!

Lunatic had climbed the night before, and is climbing again Friday, so he didn't climb, he was just my belay (safety line) slave all night.  Which means I just kept climbing.  No breaks.  Likely not the brightest move.

I started on the 25' "easy" walls, and did three, one after another, boom-boom-boom.  Then we moved to a slightly harder 35' wall.  I made it 1/2 way up the first time, 3/4 of the way the second time, and, after a brief rest, conquered it the third time.

I rested a bit, watched the other climbers for pointers, and then finnished the night off with a harder wall that involved starting on an outside corner, traversing around the corner to the "side", then back around to the "front", a big stretch (for me) over to the flat face, and then a fairly simple assent up to the top.  The first time I tried it I fell off trying to come back around the corner.  Lunatic asked me if I wanted to come down, and I said "NO!" so he let me hang there and rest and plan my attack.  I swung myself back onto the wall, and tried again.

This time I made the corner, almost made the big stretch, then fell off.  I came back to the ground, rested for a minute, and tried again.  I made it around the corner, made the big stretch (with some coaching) and almost got to the easy part, and fell off.  Back to the bottom and up one more time; I fell off again at the big stretch. 

By this point in the evening my arms were shaking so badly I knew there was no point in trying again.  I know, I know, sore arms means I am climbing incorrectly - it is about your leg strength, not your arms.  Lunatic says I need to stick my bum out more away from the wall instead of staying so tight.

All in all I had a really good night; I might go take an introductory lesson with one of their coaches.

I am proud of myself for last night.  I am not fond of heights, but I pushed through.  I am a control freak sometimes, but I trusted the Lunatic to keep me safe, and pushed outside my comfort zone.  I tried something new, and didn't give up.

My arms feel OK today, no residual muscle soreness.  Like all pain, healed with time.