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Yesterday, I got a phone call from two friends of mine. They were debating on going to either EMS or REI for climbing gear, and since I'd been making noises about possibly trying, did I want to come with? Since I was, at the moment, covered in dust from cleaning, doing anything else sounded great, I said sure. And somehow, the intent of "just looking at climbing shoes" became "buying a pair of climbing shoes" which then became "also buying a harness kit".
I really should have seen that coming.
Anyway, while we were waiting in the store, one of them mentions going climbing tomorrow, and after some double-checking on our phones for the climbing gym's beginner class on weekends, he offers to shift back his climbing time so I could take the class. Which is how I ended up making a half-asleep phone call to the climbing gym this morning to register for said class. (The guy on the other end of the phone when showed up later was amused.)
I climbed a few times as a kid. The local YMCA had an indoor rock wall, and I took the class when I was about 10. I really didn't retain much. But I remembered loving it, despite, at the time, believing I was terrified of heights. I also remember that fear being the reason I took the class in the first place.
Something about that assessment, that I'm afraid of heights, never really quite meshed with reality. I love flying. I love leaning over the 2nd story porch and watching the sky. I'm fine running along scaffolding. When I need to clear my head, I go for high places and just sit and think, like roofs and roofdecks. But make me lean over a 20ft ladder to hang lights in a theatre, have me jump down 3ft from the last rung of a scaffolding ladder, put me on a dive platform 15ft over a deep pool, and I'm paralyzed. The last one is even weirder when I'm fine springboarding off of a 10ft tall diving board.
It was after my last knee injury, when I was nervous about jumping down 3ft, that I figured out my problem. It's not heights I'm afraid of. It's falling. It's leaping off with nothing to catch me but the ground or water. And with a bad knee that can't absorb impact as well as it should? That fear is just magnified.
Which brings me to the wall. I didn't get up to the top. I think I was the only one of the six in the beginner's class who didn't. And I forgot my knee brace, so when it was suggested on the first try that I put all my weight on that leg so I could get my other foot to another hold, I balked. Maybe I was wrong. But I didn't trust my body there. And I got tired because I made my arms anchor me and pull me up. But on each of my 3 tries, I made it halfway up the wall before my hands slipped or got too tired or I couldn't find a foothold for the precious few milliseconds I knew my bad knee would hold me while bent. I'm not a good climber because I don't trust my body. Yet.
But when I looked down, I was surprised at how far I'd gotten. And when I let go of the wall, I didn't fear the fall.
I really should have seen that coming.
Anyway, while we were waiting in the store, one of them mentions going climbing tomorrow, and after some double-checking on our phones for the climbing gym's beginner class on weekends, he offers to shift back his climbing time so I could take the class. Which is how I ended up making a half-asleep phone call to the climbing gym this morning to register for said class. (The guy on the other end of the phone when showed up later was amused.)
I climbed a few times as a kid. The local YMCA had an indoor rock wall, and I took the class when I was about 10. I really didn't retain much. But I remembered loving it, despite, at the time, believing I was terrified of heights. I also remember that fear being the reason I took the class in the first place.
Something about that assessment, that I'm afraid of heights, never really quite meshed with reality. I love flying. I love leaning over the 2nd story porch and watching the sky. I'm fine running along scaffolding. When I need to clear my head, I go for high places and just sit and think, like roofs and roofdecks. But make me lean over a 20ft ladder to hang lights in a theatre, have me jump down 3ft from the last rung of a scaffolding ladder, put me on a dive platform 15ft over a deep pool, and I'm paralyzed. The last one is even weirder when I'm fine springboarding off of a 10ft tall diving board.
It was after my last knee injury, when I was nervous about jumping down 3ft, that I figured out my problem. It's not heights I'm afraid of. It's falling. It's leaping off with nothing to catch me but the ground or water. And with a bad knee that can't absorb impact as well as it should? That fear is just magnified.
Which brings me to the wall. I didn't get up to the top. I think I was the only one of the six in the beginner's class who didn't. And I forgot my knee brace, so when it was suggested on the first try that I put all my weight on that leg so I could get my other foot to another hold, I balked. Maybe I was wrong. But I didn't trust my body there. And I got tired because I made my arms anchor me and pull me up. But on each of my 3 tries, I made it halfway up the wall before my hands slipped or got too tired or I couldn't find a foothold for the precious few milliseconds I knew my bad knee would hold me while bent. I'm not a good climber because I don't trust my body. Yet.
But when I looked down, I was surprised at how far I'd gotten. And when I let go of the wall, I didn't fear the fall.
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(no subject)
Would you consider cross-posting this to
It's not heights I'm afraid of. It's falling. It's leaping off with nothing to catch me but the ground or water.
That's a really interesting realization. And yeah, on that basis, I'd guess that top-roping will work fine for you (and better and better the more you get comfortable with the belay system, and get used to the feel of falls on top-rope).
And I got tired because I made my arms anchor me and pull me up.
Yeah, almost everyone does that to begin with.
I didn't get up to the top. I think I was the only one of the six in the beginner's class who didn't.
FWIW: I am semi-officially the second worst person who's ever done the induction course at the wall where I climb.
(The worst person was the person who refused to get on the wall at all.)
The guy who taught the course still has it seared into his memory, four years later. *g* And he has admitted that now I can climb some things that he can't.
So, you know. How you do on your first go is no predictor of anything, let alone how you're going to progress. It's all too weird and new. Not to mention that in this case, you had the issue of working around the knee problems.
(no subject)
That's a really interesting realization. And yeah, on that basis, I'd guess that top-roping will work fine for you (and better and better the more you get comfortable with the belay system, and get used to the feel of falls on top-rope).
It is really interesting, and it took me like 15 years to realize. :P I was kind of surprised at how comfortable I was already with the belay system. I'd only just met the guy who was belaying for me, and still had enough trust to go for the "surprise fall". (It might have helped that I'd belayed first, so I "knew" I could at least trust the rope and ATC.)
So, you know. How you do on your first go is no predictor of anything, let alone how you're going to progress.
That's what I've been telling myself. :) Considering I was fearing I'd get 3ft up the wall and just be paralyzed, I exceeded my own expectations. (At the very beginning, I'm a foot off the ground, and trying to figure out my next move. The instructor said "just put all your weight on your [bad] leg and get your other foot up there". My reaction "uh, no". I explained the bad knee, and he was awesome since he was just "right! Let's find you something easier than a 5.7".)