Lately I’ve been feeling like the summer is getting away from me way too quickly! I haven’t done nearly as many things as I hoped to. Last month I had ants in my pants about getting to do more things. So we made plans for hiking a 14er and signing up for indoor rock climbing. Read about my 14er experience here!
Rock climbing is something I’ve been interested in for a while. I first looked in to it this winter when I was stuck inside and going crazy. Since I live in the climbing capital of the world, there were LOTS of options. I started on Groupon and asked around for advice on where to go. I very quickly found Earth Treks.
Earth Treks is one of the larger climbing gyms near Denver. It’s located in Golden, CO. Although I wish it was closer, it is easy to get to. A friend of a friend recommended this place as well as a staff member at our local outdoor store: REI. They also have a introduction package that I thought was worth the deal.
For $79 you get a BOGO offer for two introductory classes and a 15 day open pass. I definitely needed the introduction class and the hubby needed a refresher. So we signed up for this past Saturday and went.
When I try new things now, I get less and less nervous. I find that I’m so fit now that it’s hard to surprise myself with what I could do. I wasn’t nervous about my abilities to rock climb but I was nervous about the height. While I don’t have a natural fear of heights, I do have a fear of falling. I hate that suspended feeling. You know when you’re in an elevator and there’s that second of suspension before you get to your floor? That makes my stomach flip every single time. So I wasn’t sure how my brain would react to the heights of climbing and how it might effect me physically.
The staff at Earth Treks was great! We went for our introduction class this past Saturday. They taught us all the basics of climbing: knots, harness, safety, belay and a little bit of movement. On my first climb, I made it to the top with ease. The course we chose was fairly easy for our first time. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to pull myself to the top. I found myself thinking, “What’s the big deal?”. Just wait…..
I didn’t have any fears of falling while climbing. Maybe it was because my hubby was my anchor (belay is the proper term) and I knew he’d never let anything happen. Even when I turned to look at the top of the wall or glanced down to find the next foothold, I never got scared. Each climb got harder and harder. We selected harder courses and moved to a taller wall.
By my third time up, my arms were exhausted! I don’t currently do a lot of forearm work because…..well I never thought about it! But my forearms ached the rest of the day! Some parts of rock climbing are easier than I thought while others are harder. It definitely uses different muscles than I usually work. Overall it was a great time and SUPER fun. We went back the next day. We also have movement class this week and will climb over the weekend again. I probably won’t be getting a membership until the winter time. I just don’t have enough time to mix it with everything I love and get the money out of a membership.
After climbing, I read into the health benefits of the exercise. I felt pretty spent afterwards but I wasn’t sure how many calories I was burning. So I read this article and really liked the information. It’s a good read with lots of info.