So we started rock climbing about a month ago. I’ve always really liked scrambling and climbing on rocks when we go hiking. And I’ve been getting really motivated over the last month to make some significant changes in what/how much I eat and in the time and frequency of exercises I do — although we love to fit in our hiking & backpacking adventures whenever we can, things have been busy with the life of a mom of 5 boys and we haven’t gotten in as many outdoor adventures as I would have liked over the last few months, and I have been eating pretty badly for quite some time now, and just feeling blah lately. So I wanted to focus on getting healthy again, but I knew if I started some exercise videos or something like running that’s great exercise (just not something I love to do), then I’d have a hard time keeping it up and staying motivated. Basically I didn’t want to do an exercise for the sole purpose of losing weight, I wanted to do something really fun.
So we found a good deal on a family membership at a local rock climbing gym, and started going last month. It’s something our whole family has had a lot of fun doing together so far when we get to go together on a weekend or for our family nights on Mondays. And this week Michael & I are going to try out meeting each other there on Fridays during his lunch break, since the gym’s not far from his office. I’ve been going three mornings a week, and have been enjoying it.
I’ve learned that I generally prefer bouldering to rock climbing. (I’m just starting to learn all the vocabulary of this sport. Basically, bouldering is climbing shorter walls - usually under 20 feet - without a harness, but with pads on the ground for when you fall, and rock climbing is climbing taller walls with a rope & harness. Here’s a good site that explains the different levels and some of the terminology: https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/climbing-bouldering-rating.html). Some of that has to do with the fact that I don’t usually have someone there to belay me when I go to the gym in the mornings, so on those days I’m limited to the bouldering or the couple of automatic self-belay stations they have at this gym. And part of it is I don’t have to worry about depending on ropes (or someone holding the ropes) if I were to fall. And part of it is that my fear of heights that I’ve worked so hard to push down all these years likes to sneak up on me when I’m getting up to the very top of the higher walls (although I can just push past that). But mostly I just love being free and climbing in a way that seems natural and depending on myself to try not to get into a situation that I can’t handle, and when I get into a tough spot being forced to either work it out and power through it or fall down to the pad and give it another try.
Anyway, I consider myself a pretty outdoorsy person, and I’ve always been a good climber and loved climbing up rocks. I’ve been amazed at how quickly all of my kids have picked up the rock climbing and bouldering. And also that it’s way harder than I expected it to be for me. I know I need to get in better shape, and I also need to practice and learn the technique for bouldering. But I did kind of think I’d start off being able to do more than I can. But oh well, I’m working at improving and happy with my progress so far.
When we started going school hadn’t started yet, so the kids went too and I climbed, but I also spent a lot of my time belaying kids. And when I climb d I’d just pick random climbs to try out. A couple weeks ago I decided to start with all the lowest level bouldering climbs and see if I could do all of them, and then move on from there. So I did the 3 VB climbs at the gym (the beginner level), and those were easy. And I started on the V0 climbs, and most of those were almost as easy as the VBs. I was excited when I got all the VBs and 9 of the 11 V0s done in one day. But it took me a few more days to do the last two V0s — the two that are on a sharper underhang of the bouldering wall. Those two were tougher, and it didn’t help that I’d been doing yard work and gotten blisters on my hands the night before while hammering some stakes in our garden. But after a few days of trying & letting me hands heal, I was able to do those two! On Monday I did all the VBs and V0s in one morning. I was feeling great about that. Then I found out you’re supposed to start climbing from a lower position than I was starting at on about half of those climbs.
So my goal for yesterday was to try to do all of those climbs again, but do them from the correct starting points. But they were removing the holds from a section of the taller wall at the gym yesterday, so I couldn’t get to several of the climbs on the bouldering wall. But I did all the ones I could get to — except one of those tougher ones on the underhang wall, where I just about did it from the correct starting point, except for the fact that my foot briefly touched down to the ground each time I’d try to get started. So I’ll keep working on that. I also did a couple of the V1 climbs yesterday.
The cool thing about this sport is there’s so much variety and so much more you can try each time. And I’m getting excited about doing some outdoor bouldering too, after I get some more practice (and get a crash pad). ). Some of that has to do with the fact that I don’t usually have someone there to belay me when I go to the gym in the mornings, so on those days I’m limited to the bouldering or the couple of automatic self-belay stations they have at this gym. And part of it is I don’t have to worry about depending on ropes (or someone holding the ropes) if I were to fall. And part of it is that my fear of heights that I’ve worked so hard to push down all these years likes to sneak up on me when I’m getting up to the very top of the higher walls (although I can just push past that). But mostly I just love being free and climbing in a way that seems natural and depending on myself to try not to get into a situation that I can’t handle, and when I get into a tough spot being forced to either work it out and power through it or fall down to the pad and give it another try.
Anyway, I consider myself a pretty outdoorsy person, and I’ve always been a good climber and loved climbing up rocks. I’ve been amazed at how quickly all of my kids have picked up the rock climbing and bouldering. And also that it’s way harder than I expected it to be for me. I know I need to get in better shape, and I also need to practice and learn the technique for bouldering. But I did kind of think I’d start off being able to do more than I can. But oh well, I’m working at improving and happy with my progress so far.
When we started going to this gym school hadn’t started yet, so the kids went too and I climbed, but I also spent a lot of my time belaying kids. And when I climbed I’d just pick random climbs to try out. A couple weeks ago I decided to start with all the lowest level bouldering climbs and see if I could do all of them, and then move on from there. So I did the 3 VB climbs at the gym (the beginner level), and those were easy. And I started on the V0 climbs, and most of those were almost as easy as the VBs. I was excited when I got all the VBs and 9 of the 11 V0s done in one day. But it took me a few more days to do the last two V0s — the two that are on a sharper underhang of the bouldering wall. Those two were tougher, and it didn’t help that I’d been doing yard work and gotten blisters on my hands the night before while hammering some stakes in our garden. But after a few days of trying & letting me hands heal, I was able to do those two! On Monday I did all the VBs and V0s in one morning. I was feeling great about that. Then I found out you’re supposed to start climbing from a lower position than I was starting at on about half of those climbs.
So my goal for yesterday was to try to do all of those climbs again, but do them from the correct starting points. But they were removing the holds from a section of the taller wall at the gym yesterday, so I couldn’t get to several of the climbs on the bouldering wall. But I did all the ones I could get to — except one of those tougher ones on the underhang wall, where I just about did it from the correct starting point, except for the fact that my foot briefly touched down to the ground each time I’d try to get started. So I’ll keep working on that. I also did a couple of the V1 climbs yesterday.
The cool thing about this sport is there’s so much variety and so much more you can try each time. And I’m getting excited about doing some outdoor bouldering too, after I get some more practice (and get a crash pad).
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