I went Indoor Rock Climbing... and lived!

Well, the snow's gone and it's time for me to do something other than snowboarding for exercise. With this in mind, I went to Joe Rockhead's Indoor Rock Climbing Gym in Toronto last night with a few friends.

It's the 2nd time I've been rock climbing in my life. Last time was at the Glasgow Climbing Centre back home. That time was interesting because I pretty much used my arms the whole time and I didn't rest them or shake them out while I was climbing. The next morning they were killing me!

Another difference was the type of belaying device we used. In Glasgow, we used what I think was a Belay Rappel Device which is a fairly simple device that relies on the belayer to get it right or else you could drop the climber. Last night, though, we used a Grigri which is much better. It's got a mechanism inside which locks the rope when the climber falls. It only releases when you lift a lever which you can open more or less to adjust the speed of descent as desired.

The first couple of climbs I started to get scared as I got higher up because I wasn't really putting my faith in the rope and my belayer. When I got more used to it, though, I was able to go all the way to the top. I still had to stop for a rest once or twice, though, because my muscles are pretty weak. My arms are hardly sore at all today, though, so I think I used my legs more than last time.

I had to keep reminding myself to straighten my arms when I was thinking and to shake them out once in a while. It's all practice and learning. I think I'm going to have fun with this.