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Ogedei · 02-12-2006, 06:55 PM

So the bif day cam eand went. Shannon and I took our first introduction to climbing course at the university here.

The course started at 8am with waivers being signend and trying on climbing shoes which we were told should fit like snug socks. After deciding that they were by design going to be somewhat uncomfortable and everyone showing up we were taken down to the climbing area.

They passed out climbing harnesses and showed us how to put the harness on before moving into the actual climbing area.

They took a few minutes and showed us some basic moving skills on the wall and hot to spot for bouldering. They then sent us onto the wall to do a little bouldering and get a feel for the "rock".

The climbing gym at the U is a fairly small room, maybe 20' by 30 or 40'. 3 of the 4 walls are climbing surfaces. The right wall is a straight vertical face with couple of overhangs at the top. The front wall, maybe 20' wide is a slight incline, not straight vertical. The left walls are some full verticals as well as some bottom inclines with upper straight verticals.

The walls are solid concrete with some of the typical plastic handholds as well as rocks set straight into the surface. They also have cracks formed into the concrete as well as most of the walls come out a little from the wall so you have edges to work on as well.

Once we had finished with the bouldering we went on to tying in and belaying.

First they taught us how to tie the figure 8 follow through and check it on our harness.

The first device they showed us the grigri belaying device and showed us how to set the rope into it and clip it into the harness. They let us climb and belay for a half hour or so before calling us back in and showing us the ATC belaying device. Alot of us moved over to this device simply because it was a far cheaper device, worked absolutley fine we were told it could be used to rappel as well. Not that that meant anything to us at that point in time.

Shannon and I worked on a vertical section till lunch break belaying and climbing. We probably made it up half way on that vertical wall. Most of the class had chalk, although we didn't so the sweaty hands were a bit on an issue when it come down to it.

After lunch we were given an ATC device and length of small diameter climbing cord. We were directed to climb the ladder to the top of the wall and wait for them to teach us how to rappel down the wall. I don't much like ladders and so climbing an aprox 30meter ladder to essentially jump off the bad boy sorta made me nervous.

The instructors showed us how to set our ropes up and how to stack them and make sure they were in good shape and how to clip them to the ancor point at the top of the wall. They showed us how to set up the ATC device to rappel with both the ropes. Once they were set up we used the small cord to tie a knot arounf the rappel lines to our harness to hold the break line in.

Once set up and checked out by the instructors over I went, and slowly rappeled down the wall. No trouble. I waited for Shannon to come down and then we climbed up and came down again.

Once we were done we took a wall and climbed for the last 30 minutes of class. Shannon and I took one of the slight incline walls and she attempted the climb. She made it about half way up a few times and then came back down.

When it was my turn I went up just over half way and came back down. Wasn't sure where to go. On my second attempt the group next to us had packed up and I had the whole wall to myself. I climbed up to about where I had before and felt more comfortable moving laterally and then back up. Whew. I was pretty much ready to say "TAKE" and then begin my descent when I looked up....

Wow I was pretty close to the top..Screw this. I can make it. I pushed on and made the "summit" slapped the top, and called for Shannon to "TAKE". Done. She took up the slack and I lowered down the wall. Only one total ascent, but one more that I really thought I would get.

The exprience was awesome and they gave us a card to give us the free Belaty test at their facility as well as a free climbing session for about a $7 value.

The centre rents everything fairly cheaply. Rope, harness shoes, carbiners, shoes, the whole thing for under $15 easily.

Although I knew I was expending energy, I wasn't prepared for how much I had. At the lunch break I was starving and I was starving after we were done at 2 as well. I think I attribute this largely to the activity as well as stress reactions from being on a wall and being slightly nervous about falling.

All in all it was cool and Shannon and I are probably going to do our belay test next weekend. They need us to watch a video, tie in with the followthrough figure 8 knot as well as show we can safely belay with either the grigri or the ATC device.

Og.

02-12-2006, 06:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ogedei I am becoming. Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Calgary, AB, Canada Posts: 5,733	1st climbing experience. So the bif day cam eand went. Shannon and I took our first introduction to climbing course at the university here. The course started at 8am with waivers being signend and trying on climbing shoes which we were told should fit like snug socks. After deciding that they were by design going to be somewhat uncomfortable and everyone showing up we were taken down to the climbing area. They passed out climbing harnesses and showed us how to put the harness on before moving into the actual climbing area. They took a few minutes and showed us some basic moving skills on the wall and hot to spot for bouldering. They then sent us onto the wall to do a little bouldering and get a feel for the "rock". The climbing gym at the U is a fairly small room, maybe 20' by 30 or 40'. 3 of the 4 walls are climbing surfaces. The right wall is a straight vertical face with couple of overhangs at the top. The front wall, maybe 20' wide is a slight incline, not straight vertical. The left walls are some full verticals as well as some bottom inclines with upper straight verticals. The walls are solid concrete with some of the typical plastic handholds as well as rocks set straight into the surface. They also have cracks formed into the concrete as well as most of the walls come out a little from the wall so you have edges to work on as well. Once we had finished with the bouldering we went on to tying in and belaying. First they taught us how to tie the figure 8 follow through and check it on our harness. The first device they showed us the grigri belaying device and showed us how to set the rope into it and clip it into the harness. They let us climb and belay for a half hour or so before calling us back in and showing us the ATC belaying device. Alot of us moved over to this device simply because it was a far cheaper device, worked absolutley fine we were told it could be used to rappel as well. Not that that meant anything to us at that point in time. Shannon and I worked on a vertical section till lunch break belaying and climbing. We probably made it up half way on that vertical wall. Most of the class had chalk, although we didn't so the sweaty hands were a bit on an issue when it come down to it. After lunch we were given an ATC device and length of small diameter climbing cord. We were directed to climb the ladder to the top of the wall and wait for them to teach us how to rappel down the wall. I don't much like ladders and so climbing an aprox 30meter ladder to essentially jump off the bad boy sorta made me nervous. The instructors showed us how to set our ropes up and how to stack them and make sure they were in good shape and how to clip them to the ancor point at the top of the wall. They showed us how to set up the ATC device to rappel with both the ropes. Once they were set up we used the small cord to tie a knot arounf the rappel lines to our harness to hold the break line in. Once set up and checked out by the instructors over I went, and slowly rappeled down the wall. No trouble. I waited for Shannon to come down and then we climbed up and came down again. Once we were done we took a wall and climbed for the last 30 minutes of class. Shannon and I took one of the slight incline walls and she attempted the climb. She made it about half way up a few times and then came back down. When it was my turn I went up just over half way and came back down. Wasn't sure where to go. On my second attempt the group next to us had packed up and I had the whole wall to myself. I climbed up to about where I had before and felt more comfortable moving laterally and then back up. Whew. I was pretty much ready to say "TAKE" and then begin my descent when I looked up.... Wow I was pretty close to the top..Screw this. I can make it. I pushed on and made the "summit" slapped the top, and called for Shannon to "TAKE". Done. She took up the slack and I lowered down the wall. Only one total ascent, but one more that I really thought I would get. The exprience was awesome and they gave us a card to give us the free Belaty test at their facility as well as a free climbing session for about a $7 value. The centre rents everything fairly cheaply. Rope, harness shoes, carbiners, shoes, the whole thing for under $15 easily. Although I knew I was expending energy, I wasn't prepared for how much I had. At the lunch break I was starving and I was starving after we were done at 2 as well. I think I attribute this largely to the activity as well as stress reactions from being on a wall and being slightly nervous about falling. All in all it was cool and Shannon and I are probably going to do our belay test next weekend. They need us to watch a video, tie in with the followthrough figure 8 knot as well as show we can safely belay with either the grigri or the ATC device. Og.