Video: The Wonder Kids of Indoor Rock Climbing

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by Mark Stephens, video by Big UP Productions on Mon Jan 3, 2011 - (1) Comments

First, some background facts. My first rock climbing experience was of the old school method: outside. We're talking about a 45 minute drive down a 4wd road to an approach hike to a big granite mound among "jumping" cholla cactus, massive doses of sunshine, and rattlesnakes where we found three or four old rusty bolts making a faint Dear-God-help-me line up an 80-foot barren face.

I'm not trying to make myself into a hero, I'm just reciting the facts of the case. Quite contrarily, I struggled - and whined like a little girl [note: see video] - on the first moves which were inside a shallow dihedral with a slight overhanging bulge about three moves into the whole affair. Despite my despair and pathetic maneuvering, I got hooked on climbing.

I'm not going to go the "grouchy old man" route here and say today's climbers have it easy, or that climbing gyms are soul-less. Not even close. The kids in this video will make you go slackjawed, and your palms will get sweaty. And not just at their gymnastics-like moves, but also at the way they work to challenge themselves with wicked-hard moves, and pull them off. As they say in the video, indoor climbing lets you do a number of things you can't do on outdoor rock - namely moving holds around to find a new challenge, a new thing for you and some friends to attempt for the afternoon (see 5:20).

It may make you feel kind of nostalgic for that limber body you once had - or am I all alone here?

In internet time, the video lasts an eternity at almost 12 minutes long. That's okay. You'll enjoy it.

Via adventure journal



Comments   

 
s.c.
+1 # s.c. 2011-01-03 10:56
I can vouch for my daughter who's only 8 and is working on 5.9s already. don't know how she does it with such a small body!
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