Go Climb a Rock

Inspired by our time in Ohio, N and I went to the indoor rock climbing gym and had a blast. Now when we were visiting R’s parents, the heat was excruciating. I fully acknowledge that I’m a big whiner and a baby, but man was it hot, and humid. I’ve spent time in the south in the middle of summer, and I’ll tell you right now, it is no different in Ohio. We did, however, manage to temper the situation by living in the city pool.

It was a nice pool, though not unlike most city pools that you see, with lanes for swimming laps and a shallow end for wading. The pool in Ohio, however, had some other nice features. There was a slide, which the kids loved, as well as a rock climbing wall in the deep end. The way it worked was you climb the wall, and at any point along the way to the top, or if you make it to the top, you can simply let go and fall in the water. It was a ton of fun.

We all gave it a go, and initially made it up about 1/3 of the way before falling in, but we enjoyed it. I watched the teenagers do it, and they were good. Almost all of them made it to the top, especially the girls, who climbed with no problem. At some point, I decided that I’d like to make it to the top before we returned home.

We ended up at the pool almost every day, so I had plenty of chances to practice my climbing, and by the second day, I actually got to the top. What was nice was the teenagers watching me were encouraging me, though it was mostly the girls. The guys couldn’t care less if an old man climbed to the top. Anyway, it was fun, and by the last day, I was pretty confident with the climb.

When we got back home, A was away at video camp, so N and I had lots of time to hang and do things. One idea that came up was the rock climbing gym in Quechee. It used to be called the Wall, but then it closed and reopened as the Green Mountain Climbing Gym. It’s a nice way to practice climbing, and it’s not cheap, but not expensive, either. I wasn’t going to climb, it was just N, and I was the “belayer,” which is fancy climbing talk for the guy who holds the rope. It gave me a good chance watch N do his stuff, and he did a great job. In fact, he made it all the way to the top by his 4^th climb. To give you some perspective, it’s about 3 stories up, and if you’ve ever been that high, hanging from a wall, no less, it can be pretty precarious. N did a great job, I’m proud of him.

He did about a dozen climbs and then we were done. I’m glad he enjoyed it, and I think A would like it, as well. It’s a nice activity to do when it’s ugly outside, or for that matter, painfully hot. Yes, it gets that was up here, though not nearly as bad as the Midwest.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to (adam) THEO for the pic.