Any rockclimbers here?

[Soror]

I just went climbing at an indoor gym a few months ago and we went back this past weekend. I absolutely loved it from the first moment. Unfortunately it seems from my searching that the closest gym is 2.5 hrs away, the one I've climbed at so far. It doesn't seem that there is much in the way of outdoor climbing either, although I need to learn a lot more before wanting to attempt that. I think we might be able to swing a once a month trip but that is likely about the max considering the logistics and finances of it all. I tried to talk to dh about building me a wall but he says his to-do list is already too long :).

 

Does anyone have any info, tips or tricks?

[Kerileanne99]

Oh Soror! You have been bitten by the rock climbing bug!

I am sorry to say the effects only grow in strength the more you climb.

 

Before you know it you will be haunting all the climbing websites, planning your vacations around decent climbing destinations and 'sending' weather. You may even find yourself, in the process of job hunting, only applying for those jobs that are within a reasonable (say 20 min!) distance of at least one crag.

And I have to tell you I feel your pain. I am from Idaho, hubby from England. We now live in FLAT Texas where climbing outdoors is difficult, to say the least. We have been driving way too often to a destination roughly 3 hours away for the last 5 years for a bit of limestone. And it is quite the production. Although I am in a wheelchair, climbing isn't a problem...but the approach is. My awesome, amazing hubby will piggy-back me in (sometimes for miles), set me down and go back for our gear:)

Even our almost 4 year old climbs. She has her own gear, and loves it.

 

I will say it is a very, very expensive hobby. Especially if you want to do it outside. For us, climbing inside only serves as training for outside, but other people do primarily inside. It is obviously much more accessible, non-weather dependent, safer, cheaper, etc.. It also is a great place to get started.

We don't live very close to any larger gyms, although we do tend to plan our weekends, errands, shopping around traveling to the larger cities we live between:)

During the week we tend to get our fix at the Uni where hubby works, and we have converted our entire garage to a climbing wall/cave/training area/playground for kiddo. Have you checked to see if your local Uni has a wall?

Some of the other things:

Depending on funds, there are other options. It actually isn't too difficult to build a woody. (Home wooden wall). But it does take quite a bit of time and it can run up pretty steep cost. If you are interested still I can PM you some sites with plans, approximate costs, ways to find holds at discounts, things like that.

Again, pricy, but for larger trips where either it would be unsafe to take someone disabled into a climb with hubby or the approach just isn't feasible, hubby will contract with a professional guide. This summer he was able to do the Diamond on Long's Peak this way. We have both taken classes from Colorado Mountain School, and hubby is certified to guide. I took the guiding course because I wanted to have the information, but did not test for the physical reasons. But you can do all sorts of trips and courses this way.

 

Other training at home: things like installing a pull-up bar in a doorway. There are specific training boards that can be hung in a doorway, but you really, really shouldn't use them until your fingers are stronger. And you know how to warm them up properly. Otherwise they can do more damage than good.

 

Anyway, I guess I send you a mixed happiness/sympathy wish:)

It is the most amazing sport, one of the best whole body workouts, and something that can be done as a family. Make sure the kids are exposed enough to get bitten by the bug as well, so they start clammering for a wall too!

[Alessandra]

I am not a climber, but after ds finished a course at our local gym, he did an outdoor rock climbing class from REI. They supplied all the equipment (even shoes). The leaders had all kinds of climbing/safety certifications. People came from several hours away to attend.

 

 

 

[MomOfOneFunOne]

AMDG

 

No in years, but back in the day . . . !

 

I was first introduced to climbing on an Outward Bound trip and was truly smitten!  I went to U of TN which had a very active hiking and climbing club with all the equipment you could imagine for loan.  Oh, those were the days . . .

 

When I graduated I really thought I would continue to climb but we moved to Oklahoma.  sigh.

 

My point: Check with the local colleges and universities.  They may have climbing clubs with gear.  If you aren't a student you probably can't participate but you never know, some do have community outreach.  It is becoming more and more popular to schools to do that.

[Kerileanne99]

Soror,

What size shoe do you wear? I have three brand new pairs of climbing shoes that we have either won in various comps or decided we didn't like the style...if any fit I am happy to give you an early Christmas present:)

When you get into it a bit more you will find you like certain brands or styles better, but this way you won't have to (maybe) buy a pair of $100+ shoes to figure it out!

[Soror]

OH, should I admit that I've already been tentatively planning our vacation next year to a ranch that has rockclimbing (as well as horseback riding, zip-lining, canoeing etc). All the kids went w/ us the first time and dh and I just took turns holding the baby. Everyone enjoyed it but our (then)3.5 yo didn't climb much, of course it was also at a time when she was tired as well. Last time we just had our 9yo and 1 yo with us.

 

The closest university is 1.5 hrs away and they do have 1 wall but I'm not sure how it works for non-students to climb. I had forgot about that, I went to college there and worked out some at the gym but never did climb the wall, although I always thought it looked cool. I'll have to email them to see how that works.

 

I looked some at plans online for walls but dh is not very keen on that idea. Honestly, he really doesn't have the time right now though, although we are hoping his schedule slows down soon. I'd also read that some say that if you build your own wall you get tired of it rather quick. Although, I would think that you'd want to change the routes and such like they do at the gym but what do I know! It seems I need to do the training for the belays as the next step. I've only done the auto-belays so far, it was a nice non-intimidating way to get into it but I can see wanting to progress more.

 

I told dh that it sounds really arrogant but I generally really suck at sports, I really do and really don't like them much but I feel like my body is made for this. I did better than my dh and ds and ds is quite the monkey. I just loved it so much I kept working at it. I made it to the top of 6 of the 8 auto-belays they had. I made it about 2/3rds up on one of the others and the last one was really hard I couldn't make it very far at all, barely off the ground. I know I need massive training in technique. I don't have much upper body strength right now so I had to keep trying different ways of doing things and just kept working at it. I kept telling hubby 1 more time! I really wanted to conquer that one wall but I finally had to call it as they were both done and my body just wouldn't give anymore!

 

Alessandra- thanks for the tip. There is an REI in the city were the climbing gym is so perhaps they have something similar from what I've read there isn't any outdoor climbing there but I could very well have missed something.

 

kerileanne- my foot size right now is 9-9.5! If you happen to have anything that size I'd be stoked and would love to work out something to compensate you. I've climbed so far in my moccasins, which have a very flexible sole. I have some vibrams which I thought might be decent for climbing as well but they look a bit different than a lot of the climbing shoes. I'm a total newbie though so I haven't a clue!

[Alessandra]

Alessandra- thanks for the tip. There is an REI in the city were the climbing gym is so perhaps they have something similar from what I've read there isn't any outdoor climbing there but I could very well have missed something.

 

 

 

On the REI website, click on learn and then on outdoor school.

 

http://www.rei.com/outdoorschool.html

 

The outdoor schools are located around metropolitan areas. For rock climbing (not offered in winter near us), there were locations ranging from northwest NJ to mid CT. The outdoor schools are not AT the stores, just based from them. You might not realize about the classes unless you looked online.

 

Climbing had basic classes and several other levels. Not cheap -- just under $100 for the day (a lot of safety, plus two clims that looked amazing. Btw, kids are allowed, but a parent must stay, no drop-offs.

 

I looked in our area and saw nothing, as spring classes haven't been scheduled yet. But click on Los Angeles to get an idea of the variety of classes. In our group, there were a bunch of climbers from Brooklyn. They rented a car and drove -- must have been about 2 hours each way. One hour each for for us and well worth the time, even for me -- I love being outdoors, even as an observer.

 

Boy Scout camps often have rock climbing, but I think you need a scout connection to participate (insurance). I have been with ds's Boy Scouts and dd's girl scouts. If you are part of another group and there is a center near you, it is worth asking. They will give you a LOT of paperwork, but prices are great! Our local scout center charged $7 for a 2-3 hour session!!

[Kerileanne99]

I will check the shoes this afternoon, but I am fairly certain you are in luck!

I am leaving in a few minutes, but just wanted to quickly say There are lots of options for beginning as you are. There are messaging boards for connecting with like minded/like experience climbers, even mothers groups that take turns watching the kiddos. Even the gyms farther way will have a pin-up board for gear/climbing partners/ and the like.

One thing to keep in mind is that many people choose to get started with bouldering because all you need is shoes, chalk, and a crash pad. No belaying or harnesses. The problems are shorter, nearer the ground. I personally don't really boulder except at home because of the nature of my disability, but many prefer it. My hubby does both, but we both prefer the heights.

Yes, the next step will be learning to belay. This is usually pretty quick, at least for top-roping, which is what you are doing in a gym. You usually just ask at the desk at a gym. Most gyms are now using auto-locking belay devices, so you also need to ask about learning on something like at ATC unless you are going to make sure to buy a device just like the gyms.

 

Re the home woodies! When you build the wall, you drill pre made holes and pound in what are called T-nuts. They are threaded to accept bolts. This way you can constantly move and change out the holds to make new routes.

[Soror]

On the REI website, click on learn and then on outdoor school.

 

http://www.rei.com/outdoorschool.html

 

The outdoor schools are located around metropolitan areas. For rock climbing (not offered in winter near us), there were locations ranging from northwest NJ to mid CT. There were basic classes and several other levels. Not cheap -- just under $100 for the day (a lot of safety, plus two clims that looked amazing. Btw, kids are allowed, but a parent must stay, no drop-offs.

 

I looked in our area and saw nothing, as spring classes haven't been scheduled yet. But click on Los Angeles to get an idea of the variety of classes. In our group, there were a bunch of climbers from Brooklyn. They rented a car and drove -- must have been about 2 hours each way. One hour each for for us and well worth the time, even for me -- I love being outdoors, even as an observer.

Thanks for the link, I just checked and there isn't any classes listed in the city closest to me. It seems that the closest city that offers classes is 6hrs away. It seems I'd be better off trying out one of the classes at the gym.

[Soror]

I will check the shoes this afternoon, but I am fairly certain you are in luck!

I am leaving in a few minutes, but just wanted to quickly say There are lots of options for beginning as you are. There are messaging boards for connecting with like minded/like experience climbers, even mothers groups that take turns watching the kiddos. Even the gyms farther way will have a pin-up board for gear/climbing partners/ and the like.

One thing to keep in mind is that many people choose to get started with bouldering because all you need is shoes, chalk, and a crash pad. No belaying or harnesses. The problems are shorter, nearer the ground. I personally don't really boulder except at home because of the nature of my disability, but many prefer it. My hubby does both, but we both prefer the heights.

Yes, the next step will be learning to belay. This is usually pretty quick, at least for top-roping, which is what you are doing in a gym. You usually just ask at the desk at a gym. Most gyms are now using auto-locking belay devices, so you also need to ask about learning on something like at ATC unless you are going to make sure to buy a device just like the gyms.

 

Re the home woodies! When you build the wall, you drill pre made holes and pound in what are called T-nuts. They are threaded to accept bolts. This way you can constantly move and change out the holds to make new routes.

Cool, thanks for the info!!!! Would you recommend any of the climbing sites? I searched and found a few but wasn't for sure which were good. I did find on one a way to search for indoor climbing gyms and also one for local meet-ups but I didn't find anybody on there locally.

[Alessandra]

Thanks for the link, I just checked and there isn't any classes listed in the city closest to me. It seems that the closest city that offers classes is 6hrs away. It seems I'd be better off trying out one of the classes at the gym.

 

:sad:

Oh, that is sad.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Soror,

 

Welcome to the club.  Dd and I are gym rats because the nearest crag is 3 hours away and neither of us are qualified (nor do we have the necessary gear) to do any outdoor climbing on our own.  We have met some really great people through dd's competitions and one family has gear and knowledge to set ropes for us at the closer crag (which is about 90 minutes from their home.)  We are fortunate to have a large gym 15 minutes from my house, so I go a couple of times a week.  It is the only exercise I can do that doesn't kill my aging joints  - I don't boulder due to the fact that you have to land.  If the rest of my family liked to climb, we would be planning all of our vacations around climbing.  But, alas, the bug has only bitten dd and me (despite the fact that my first introduction to climbing was when my older two boys were in a climbing class for homeschoolers.) 

 

We plan to build a woodie at home for dd to train.  We wanted to build one in our garage, but dh will not part with most of the junk we have in there (much of it has not been touched in ten years, but that's beside the point.)  So, dd and I will build an outdoor one and just cover it with tarps during the winter months.  It can be expensive though. 

[Soror]

Ellen- I was really interested in reading about your daughter and her team, I was happy to read that you guys have figured out a solution. I'm so jealous for my ds as I think he would do great with that. You are so lucky to have a gym that close. I told dh if we had one in town then I would be there a few times a week for my me-time! My dh enjoyed climbing as well but not as much as me. I don't usually go crazy about things but I finally found something I really enjoy. I'm just trying not to annoy everyone in real life too much talking about it :)

[regentrude]

Welcome to the club. DH and I love climbing (and the kids do, too). Back home, we had a fantastic sandstone area just 30 miles from our house and would go every single weekend while in college, and then later when we had kids. It is fabulous and addictive.

Now we live in Missouri and have hardly any opportunity to climb: the closest gym is 2 hours, and the rocks around here are really not worth it.  We mostly climb in summer when we travel to beautiful places out west.

So, no advice here, but for sure it is a wonderful thing to do.