Last night was a climbing night and a really good one at that! Climbing, like my main sport skiing, is a lot about confidence and after a slightly gnarly fall a few weeks ago mine was dented…ok as you ask, the fall involved slipping off an overhang whilst lead climbing and managing to get my leg wrapped in the rope and then dangling upside down. Slightly scary, some pretty bad rope burn around my ankle and horrendously embarrassing! Urgh. Anyway! Onwards and upwards and my confidence is back – and I’m watching where I put my feet in relation to the rope religiously!! But I thought I’d let you see a couple of pics from the climbing wall – these are shot quickly off my mobile to BBM to friends so they are not good but you get the jist!
A head for heights September 21, 2011
As well as picking up on running again since the move I have also started climbing again, after a 6 year absence from the sport! I have been putting in quite a few hours at our local climbing wall with some good friends and have really got back into it. As well as being great for upper body strength, core stability and leg strength (if you’re doing it right- which I don’t claim to be!) it provides the much needed adrenaline rush that I miss when there’s no snow to slide down!
When I started off climbing again I was climbing off top ropes – i.e. the rope you are attached to is already attached to the top of your wall. This was great for getting my nerve back and being tutored on some technique. It’s less nerve racking than lead climbing (more on that in a sec) as if you slip off the wall you aren’t going to go anywhere…well not far anywhere! Once I got my confidence back and was feeling comfortable with the techniques again my friends started to teach me how to lead climb. This is more nerve racking than doing a top rope climb (at least for a relative beginner like me!) as it involves climbing attached to the rope but clipping it onto the wall as you go. This means that as soon as you climb above your last clip you’re going to fall the distance (if you fall) to the last clip you are attached to….This takes some getting used to and has seen me dangling off holds 20 feet up unable to make a move but not quite wanting to let go- probably rather amusing for people watching! In fact once you have taken a few falls it is quite fun but my instinct is still to avoid falling! There’s a serious trust involved with you and your belayer (the other person attached to the rope who is in charge of you not plumetting to the ground!) so climbing with someone new is always a challenge!
Anyway the health benefits are great- I get serious toned arm envy with many of the climbers I see! On top of the toning it’s great fun and you get the post-adrenaline buzz glow! If you fancy giving it a go keep an eye on groupon and the like for cheap lessons and introductory offers.
See you on the wall
The Gym Bunny Blog
The Gym Bunny Blog 