First time climbing!
Oct. 8th, 2010 07:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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disobey_gravityI took an intro class in top-rope climbing for the first time on Saturday--also my first time climbing at all--and, in case my long, long account should be of interest to anyone, here it is!
I'd been thinking about going climbing for a while due to climbers on my reading list and browsing the posts here, and then there was a sudden confluence of new better-paying job and a Groupon for my local climbing gym, offering a month's membership with equipment rental and a couple of introductory classes, all for $40. I snapped it up and a week later I even got my act together enough to call up and schedule my first class for noon on a Saturday, which was the only time my new job allowed.
The nice woman on the phone sounded a little dubious. "I can sign you up for Saturday, but no one else is signed up and it won't be as much fun if you're alone..." but she did sign me up and I told myself, well, maybe I'd called unnecessarily far in advance! They'd just sold a Groupon including this class, so surely there would be other people in the class by Saturday.
Yeah, no. Despite the insanely crowded parking lot, when I got there my name was the only one on the clipboard. (There was, however, a birthday party in progress and thus a birthday party's worth of children running around being amazingly nimble.)
I kind of expected to find one-on-one instruction daunting or embarrassing--I hate being the center of attention when I'm doing something I'm bad at--but the instructor was awesome. First he showed me around the gym and explained what everything was (and I made a vague explanation about having friends who climb but live really far away so I can't go climb with them) and then he took me over to a lounge area to learn to tie knots. My ridiculously poor spatial skills didn't slow me down too much, and I learned to tie a figure 8, follow-through figure 8, and a fisherman's knot, and then I got into a harness and learned how to tie my knots for climbing and how to do a safety check.
Then I learned the physical motions of belaying, also while standing in a little lounge room where looking up while belaying meant gazing intently at a fluroescent light. I think this was the point where the instructor said, "I have a lot more confidence in you right now than you have in yourself. You're going to be fine."
So then we finally went out to a rock wall, one more or less set aside for training. The instructor had me tie on as a climber, got himself set up to belay, tested me again on how to do a safety check, and then pointed me at the wall and said "Go for it."
I had a little OH, CLIMBING, I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE MORE TRAINING moment, and then since it seemed to be what I was expected to do, I went for it.
The actual climbing was... I'm pretty scattered, most of the time, compulsively multitasking and thinking back or ahead or off in fantasyland or being self-conscious or whatever. But climbing really--obviously, but wonderfully--narrows the world down to where is the next hold. Before I knew it I was staring dubiously at the last few holds below the ceiling. I looked down at the instructor, suddenly ready to get the hell off the wall, and that was the first time I really noticed that I was a good twenty feet up. He said, "Get those last two and then you'll be at the top."
So, what the hell, I hauled myself up to the last couple of holds and then looked down again and said, "Ready to ride," and walked myself back down the wall on belay.
After that the instructor looked around, saw somebody wearing a harness who wasn't in the middle of anything, and said, "Hey, you want to climb? She's learning to belay." And, bless the random climber, he said yes. (The instructor did kneel beside me and hold the rope the whole time, so I don't think I could actually have screwed up enough to let him get hurt, but still.) So he climbed and I belayed him, and then he climbed up again and, this time, fell from fifteen feet so I could stop him, and then climbed back up. So I belayed twice, and only got my sleeve caught in the works once (and then got to hear a horror story from my instructor about being out on the rocks and having to give a woman a haircut, because her hair got caught in her belaying gear and her partner had fallen off the wall and couldn't give her enough slack to get free, so I will be always wearing my hair up, yes).
Then I got introduced to my gym's auto-belay stations, where knots and belaying and interacting with other humans are all rendered wonderfully irrelevant--they're single ropes that rise into the ceiling, where some manner of machinery automatically compensates for your weight if you fall, and therefore exerts a constant upward tug. They end in self-locking carabiners. I clipped on to the one on the training wall and climbed about two-thirds of the way up before I couldn't figure out where else to go and dropped myself back down.
Auto-belay is, um... springier than human belay. You drop faster, at first, and I had a hard time remembering to keep my feet to the wall because I wanted to, you know, land on them. But still, it was a reasonably successful climb up and ride down, and I was declared ready for the main gym.
I tried a couple of different (5.6-ish?) routes on auto-belay in the main gym, where the walls are taller, and never made it very far on either--I very quickly gained valuable experience not only in giving up and riding down, but also very sincerely falling down (my palms are sweating as I type this, in fact--it took me longer than it should have to realize chalking was not optional), including the time I came down, landed on my feet, and then promptly crumpled to the (springy, foam-padded) floor. I really do feel like that was valuable experience, though--I found out right away that I won't get hurt, although I did get kind of giggly from adrenaline/endorphins/gravity.
My instructor stayed beside me for most of it, encouraging me, extolling the virtues of the climbing gym as a place to meet people, and, when I realized that my arms had had Quite Enough, assuring me that it happens to everyone when they're new to climbing. So... basically my gym and my instructor are the greatest. I was not especially good, but that's okay, I have a whole month of membership to practice!
I didn't get to try bouldering, alas--by the time I stopped to wander around and check out the bouldering caves, my arms were Done--but I am left with a question the internet does not seem to answer straightforwardly. Are all bouldering routes on a negative pitch? I didn't fully explore the cave where a couple of guys were lying on the floor staring up, but I didn't see any routes on flat walls, so I was a bit daunted.
I'd been thinking about going climbing for a while due to climbers on my reading list and browsing the posts here, and then there was a sudden confluence of new better-paying job and a Groupon for my local climbing gym, offering a month's membership with equipment rental and a couple of introductory classes, all for $40. I snapped it up and a week later I even got my act together enough to call up and schedule my first class for noon on a Saturday, which was the only time my new job allowed.
The nice woman on the phone sounded a little dubious. "I can sign you up for Saturday, but no one else is signed up and it won't be as much fun if you're alone..." but she did sign me up and I told myself, well, maybe I'd called unnecessarily far in advance! They'd just sold a Groupon including this class, so surely there would be other people in the class by Saturday.
Yeah, no. Despite the insanely crowded parking lot, when I got there my name was the only one on the clipboard. (There was, however, a birthday party in progress and thus a birthday party's worth of children running around being amazingly nimble.)
I kind of expected to find one-on-one instruction daunting or embarrassing--I hate being the center of attention when I'm doing something I'm bad at--but the instructor was awesome. First he showed me around the gym and explained what everything was (and I made a vague explanation about having friends who climb but live really far away so I can't go climb with them) and then he took me over to a lounge area to learn to tie knots. My ridiculously poor spatial skills didn't slow me down too much, and I learned to tie a figure 8, follow-through figure 8, and a fisherman's knot, and then I got into a harness and learned how to tie my knots for climbing and how to do a safety check.
Then I learned the physical motions of belaying, also while standing in a little lounge room where looking up while belaying meant gazing intently at a fluroescent light. I think this was the point where the instructor said, "I have a lot more confidence in you right now than you have in yourself. You're going to be fine."
So then we finally went out to a rock wall, one more or less set aside for training. The instructor had me tie on as a climber, got himself set up to belay, tested me again on how to do a safety check, and then pointed me at the wall and said "Go for it."
I had a little OH, CLIMBING, I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE MORE TRAINING moment, and then since it seemed to be what I was expected to do, I went for it.
The actual climbing was... I'm pretty scattered, most of the time, compulsively multitasking and thinking back or ahead or off in fantasyland or being self-conscious or whatever. But climbing really--obviously, but wonderfully--narrows the world down to where is the next hold. Before I knew it I was staring dubiously at the last few holds below the ceiling. I looked down at the instructor, suddenly ready to get the hell off the wall, and that was the first time I really noticed that I was a good twenty feet up. He said, "Get those last two and then you'll be at the top."
So, what the hell, I hauled myself up to the last couple of holds and then looked down again and said, "Ready to ride," and walked myself back down the wall on belay.
After that the instructor looked around, saw somebody wearing a harness who wasn't in the middle of anything, and said, "Hey, you want to climb? She's learning to belay." And, bless the random climber, he said yes. (The instructor did kneel beside me and hold the rope the whole time, so I don't think I could actually have screwed up enough to let him get hurt, but still.) So he climbed and I belayed him, and then he climbed up again and, this time, fell from fifteen feet so I could stop him, and then climbed back up. So I belayed twice, and only got my sleeve caught in the works once (and then got to hear a horror story from my instructor about being out on the rocks and having to give a woman a haircut, because her hair got caught in her belaying gear and her partner had fallen off the wall and couldn't give her enough slack to get free, so I will be always wearing my hair up, yes).
Then I got introduced to my gym's auto-belay stations, where knots and belaying and interacting with other humans are all rendered wonderfully irrelevant--they're single ropes that rise into the ceiling, where some manner of machinery automatically compensates for your weight if you fall, and therefore exerts a constant upward tug. They end in self-locking carabiners. I clipped on to the one on the training wall and climbed about two-thirds of the way up before I couldn't figure out where else to go and dropped myself back down.
Auto-belay is, um... springier than human belay. You drop faster, at first, and I had a hard time remembering to keep my feet to the wall because I wanted to, you know, land on them. But still, it was a reasonably successful climb up and ride down, and I was declared ready for the main gym.
I tried a couple of different (5.6-ish?) routes on auto-belay in the main gym, where the walls are taller, and never made it very far on either--I very quickly gained valuable experience not only in giving up and riding down, but also very sincerely falling down (my palms are sweating as I type this, in fact--it took me longer than it should have to realize chalking was not optional), including the time I came down, landed on my feet, and then promptly crumpled to the (springy, foam-padded) floor. I really do feel like that was valuable experience, though--I found out right away that I won't get hurt, although I did get kind of giggly from adrenaline/endorphins/gravity.
My instructor stayed beside me for most of it, encouraging me, extolling the virtues of the climbing gym as a place to meet people, and, when I realized that my arms had had Quite Enough, assuring me that it happens to everyone when they're new to climbing. So... basically my gym and my instructor are the greatest. I was not especially good, but that's okay, I have a whole month of membership to practice!
I didn't get to try bouldering, alas--by the time I stopped to wander around and check out the bouldering caves, my arms were Done--but I am left with a question the internet does not seem to answer straightforwardly. Are all bouldering routes on a negative pitch? I didn't fully explore the cave where a couple of guys were lying on the floor staring up, but I didn't see any routes on flat walls, so I was a bit daunted.
More comments to follow
Date: 2010-10-08 02:32 pm (UTC)Quick answer: no! Bouldering routes (a.k.a. "problems") can be vertical, overhanging, or on a slab (less-than-vertical, the opposite of the overhang).
However, gyms that only have a small bouldering section may tend to make things vertical to overhanging because it's a quick and lazy way to challenge strong people -- and also because it's safer: if you fall off an overhang, you fall cleanly away from the wall and straight down onto the mats. Whereas on a slab, you can slide down the wall and bang yourself on the holds on the way, which tends to be painful.
If it is mostly overhanging, don't be daunted: overhangs look impossible at first, and they do demand a bit more strength just to stay on the wall, but they're not all about muscle: a huge part of it is body position and footwork.
Re: More comments to follow
Date: 2010-10-08 05:44 pm (UTC)I also, just to see how it went, pulled myself up to an overhang and clung there for a couple of seconds. I ... am gonna have to work up to that. :)
Re: More comments to follow
Date: 2010-10-08 07:04 pm (UTC)W00t!
I also, just to see how it went, pulled myself up to an overhang and clung there for a couple of seconds.
This already puts you ahead of my first climbing attempt, where they tried getting me on an overhang and I didn't even manage seconds plural *g*. You'll get there sooner than you think.
Re: More comments to follow
Date: 2010-10-08 09:37 pm (UTC)Don't remind me. Ouch.
Re: More comments to follow
Date: 2010-10-08 09:44 pm (UTC)Re: More comments to follow
Date: 2010-10-08 11:42 pm (UTC)I did manage to knock my head against a hold when I went today, but that just sounds awful. I think I shall be glad there is no bouldering slab at my gym. *g*
Re: More comments to follow
Date: 2010-10-09 08:36 am (UTC)I actually like working on problems that have that psychological element, where you know you can physically make the move if you can just get past the fear.
But that has the entertaining result that on the slab, I can and will climb problems that have some of the seriously strong climbers at the wall backing off.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 02:40 pm (UTC)But climbing really--obviously, but wonderfully--narrows the world down to where is the next hold.
I know! Isn't it great? *g*
I came down, landed on my feet, and then promptly crumpled to the (springy, foam-padded) floor. I really do feel like that was valuable experience, though--I found out right away that I won't get hurt, although I did get kind of giggly from adrenaline/endorphins/gravity.
Landing on your feet and crumpling is good! It's exactly how you want to fall when bouldering. Learning to fall is good in general, in fact.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 11:43 pm (UTC)I had my second go today, and felt a little sheepish about not keeping at it until I couldn't work my fingers, but I figure, you know, if I take it easy on myself I can go back that much sooner. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-09 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 03:51 pm (UTC)That's it, exactly! No matter how stressed I am, how many things are buzzing through my mind, once I'm on that wall it all fades away and nothing matters but how to reach the next holds. When I get back from climbing I feel like my brain has been rebooted. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 08:54 pm (UTC)Mine doesn't, so I have had to hunt for partners.
Enjoy it!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 09:42 pm (UTC)I've never had anybody say no.
auto-belay stations
I love auto-belay. My last gym had it and my new gym doesn't. I really miss it. It's great for training and introverts. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 11:46 pm (UTC)Auto-belay is my new best friend. And my memory of how much it lets you drop may have been somewhat colored by the sincere falls I took--today I got much better at easing myself down properly. \o/
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 11:54 pm (UTC)I think auto-belay is initially scary for any new climber since there is no jolt of being caught. Then, it's an amazing tool for new climbers.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-09 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 09:43 pm (UTC)That's awesome!
My gym has some slopy (positive-angle) bouldering sections: they're actually quite scary and difficult. Currently there's nothing on them that's less than a V2 (which is about a 5.11 on a roped wall), all open-palm holds and long scary extensions.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 11:48 pm (UTC)Today I found the flat-vertical sections in the smaller bouldering cave, and messed around on them a bit--they have a lot of different routes crammed in, so I don't think I actually followed any given route, but I did manage to climb up far enough to touch the top of the wall, which made me feel happy. :)
Forgot to say
Date: 2010-10-09 12:21 pm (UTC)*g* Lying on the mats staring gloomily at the problem is an integral part of the bouldering experience!
Actually, it really is. If the problem requires a lot of strength, you may have to take a break for a few minutes between each attempt in order to keep going.
Then there's often the element of "If I stare at this problem long enough, maybe I'll be struck by revelation and realize what on earth I need to do to get from there to there."
Re: Forgot to say
Date: 2010-10-09 12:36 pm (UTC)Re: Forgot to say
Date: 2010-10-09 12:58 pm (UTC)