rockclimbing – Wild Wanderer

CityRock with the kids

I was particularly excited to go to CityRock tonight because
my kids were going with me. Thomas was a
given, but I had to bribe Emily with pizza.
She was tired because today was her first day of Driver’s Ed (8am-5pm
all week!). We ate pizza as I drove,
parked at First Pres, and walked over to CityRock.

Once again, it was packed for a Monday night. I’m not sure when it isn’t packed? I realized when we arrived I’d forgotten my
moleskin again. Oh well, I just prepared
myself to get blisters and put on my shoes.
I got to hold the chalk bag.

Thomas is in Rocky Mountain High, so he has quite a bit of
experience rock climbing. He was
impressed with the belay device we just got, and wanted to try it out. I know he knows his knots (being an Eagle
Scout and all), but it’s really cool to see him just use them. He did a great job! Oh, and I had no problems whatsoever with any
of mine. We’ll see what happens next
week…

We all climbed and Thomas and I belayed. I’m not great at belaying, but no one got
hurt. I need some more practice.

It was funny to see Thomas so serious about using the proper
commands and ensuring we tested the ropes out every time. I’m glad he takes safety so seriously!

Thomas and I raced each other at one point. He won, of course, but in my defense he’s had
more practice, I took the harder route, and he’s taller than I am.

We spent some time on the slackline and climbing rope. I was getting pretty good at walking across
the slackline by the end of the night. Thomas was the only one who could climb this

And balance like this…

I left to do some bouldering, and when I looked for the kids
again I noticed Thomas belaying Emily.
What a nice brother! I decided to
record them and get a view of the gym too, for those of who’re wondering what a
climbing gym looks like.

Remember that run I tried to do last week and failed? The 5.10-?
Well, this time I did it after I’d already successfully done about 4
runs and was successful: so now I can
saw I really was just tired last week!

Yes, I got blisters on my heels, but despite (or maybe
because of?) using chalk I got weird sores on my hands this time. You know when you’re in the pool too long and
your feet and toes get rubbed raw? That
was happening to my fingers and palms. I
seriously need to work up those calluses!
On a positive note, I still have my fingernails…

Towards the end I had Emily take a video of me doing an easy
bouldering wall. We actually spent quite
a bit of time bouldering today. One of
these days I’ll probably just boulder. I
tend to start out rock climbing because the gym gets busy and pretty soon the
belays are all taken, but that means I’m already tired when it’s time to
boulder.

We only stayed for about two hours, ending our night with
traversing. I seriously need to work on
shifting my balance while stationary, but I was able to complete the run
successfully.

One thing I realized was how important the belayer actually
is. Tim was much better at belaying than
Thomas. In other words, Tim was making
me look good (Thomas wasn’t bad, but there was a noticeable difference). It was easier to climb with a good belayer, as
they help lift you up. This must be why the
auto-belays aren’t so popular.

I loved being there with my kids! I’m excited to go back later this week with
all 3!

Bouldering Day 2

OK, so I’m a little embarrassed about this one. Emily didn’t want to climb today (she’s
thinking once a month sounds about right for her), but she did agree to go with
me and sit in the lounge area and draw.
I think it had something to do with getting pizza on the way…

When I was about half way there I remembered I’d left my chalk bag on
the counter. Whoops! I was also hoping to wear my new rock
climbing shoes today, but I still don’t have them. They came in the mail (twice) but each time
they were the wrong size (more on that once I actually fix this situation). So I rented some very well-fitting shoes and
headed straight for the climbing wall.

Once again there were a lot of people there tonight, and I wanted to
get some practice in before there weren’t any lines left available.

I was doing pretty good today. I
started with a 5.5, and then went on to 5.6, 5.7, & 5.8. Each time I’d successfully make it to the top
(using the correct color routes, of course) I’d try something a little
harder. I was doing great until I got to
5.9: I was two holds away from the top
when I lost my footing and fell. Luckily
I was on a pulley, so I didn’t fall too fast, but I did hit someone on the way
down. He was pretty close to where I was
on the wall next to me, and as soon as I fell I knocked into him (I didn’t have
time to realize what was going on before colliding). He was obviously a much better climber than I
as he was on a pretty difficult run. He
didn’t fall, but I could tell I had jostled him a bit. I apologized profusely, blamed
it on being a novice, and figured that was probably enough rock climbing for
today.

On to bouldering! The runs (I’m
not even sure if that’s what they’re called?) had been changed since last week,
so everything was a bit different.
However, this time I knew to follow the same color run, so I felt a bit
more confident. The lower wall was more
difficult to climb today than it had been last week (and I don’t think that run
had changed?) I decided to skip it and
take the stairs (side note: I came back
to it later and was successful).

My hands were slippery and I had several blisters already (once was
cracked and bleeding) and I’d forgotten my chalk, so I tried to “steal” chalk
from the counters by covertly wiping my hands across them where chalk had
settled from others. I know, I’m
pathetic. Next time I’ll offer some of
my chalk for free to someone to make up for it.

Once again I started with the easiest runs and worked my way up. 5.0-5.4 were easy and I was racing up each
run, over the wall, and back down to try the next in line. There were fewer people bouldering than
climbing, and it was easy to keep advancing without waiting for those around me
to climb.

Then I came to a run that was a bit more difficult. I don’t remember the class, but I was one
hold from the top when I lost my balance and fell. No, I didn’t fall away from the wall like you’re
supposed to, ad I didn’t anticipate the fall.
This time was worse than the first time because I was sideways when I
fell, and my arm hit a couple of holds on the way down. I landed on my backside, not seriously hurt
because of the mats below me (I fell about 10 feet). I didn’t look at my arm when I landed, but I could
tell I’d bruised it pretty well. It felt
like a nasty rug burn.

I looked around and no one seemed as embarrassed as I was about my
fall, so I picked an easier run, climbed just to prove to myself I could, and
then made my way back down to the lower climbing area to lick my wounds where
no one would know what I’d just done.

This time it actually hurt worse than it looked (usually it’s the
opposite). I asked the lady at the front desk if she had
any Vaseline and she looked at me like I was crazy. I guess my type of injury isn’t common.

I made it back down to the lower area and found a couple I’d met earlier
who offered to let me climb with them when they found out I was alone and new
to climbing. I’m really uncomfortable
making friends when I can’t reciprocate, so I didn’t take them up on their
offer to let me climb while they belayed, but I did stand and watch them for a
bit. This is something I need to work
on, but I know it will take me a while to accept help/friendship. I’m slow to
warm, but working on it!

Rock Climbing – Red Rock Open Space

Today was the perfect day to go rock climbing! We’d scheduled it for last weekend, but a spring snowstorm cancelled our climbing plans.

When we arrived at the site I climbed up first and attached myself to a 2 foot tether. I stayed up on a ledge for the next 3 hours, watching and encouraging the girls as they climbed. I wanted pictures, so I was more than willing to sit there to get them. Unfortunately though, since I was only on a 2 foot tether, I couldn’t move much. I couldn’t sit down or stand up, so I kind of braced myself in various uncomfortable positions. It was worth it though! I got some amazing photos!

We were climbing until 1pm, but by about 12:15pm the girls were pretty tired. So I came back down and decided to do some climbing myself. There was one particular run every girl had a hard time on, and from where I was ‘sitting’ I was encouraging them to continue. Most wanted to give up, and some took 15 minutes or more to get over this hump in the climb.

I’ve always said I’d never ask the girls to do something I wasn’t willing to do, so as they were taking a break I climbed each of the runs. I’m very proud to say I was able to do each in under 5 minutes. I’m in pretty good shape, and climbing wasn’t difficult strength wise at all. Rock Climbing shoes are like magic: they kind of turn you into a spider, so all you need to do is trust you can do it, and keep going. I love to rock climb, but don’t have any gear. If I want to be a serious team member on class 4 and 5 14ers I need to know what I’m doing. No, I don’t have the proper gear, but I do have a positive attitude, and I can climb without difficulty. And I can properly belay, tie knots, and know how to wear/use gear. Now for more practice!