photo courtesy of Freshbooks (flickr user)

Saturday, 11am at Joe Rockhead’s climbing gym – I’m here for a 101-level introduction to indoor rock climbing. My $45 gets me a 3 hr lesson, a subscription to Gripped-a Canadian Rock climbing magazine and a 2-week membership to Joe Rockhead’s. Plus, if I decide to sign up for a long-term membership, that $45 is put towards the total fee. Sounds like a reasonable deal to me.

There were 9 adults in my class – 4 guys, 5 girls and all at various fitness levels. I don’t think anyone had climbed before.

The instructor was very good. He was committed to drilling the basics into our heads. From that base, we could learn to climb safely, and with confidence.

He taught us about the different kinds of rock climbing, the ropes, the knots and introduction to climbing and belaying.

I’m learning that there are a lot of people in Toronto who enjoy rock climbing – and a lot of these climbers don’t have a partner to climb with regularly. There are two ways the gym tries to fix this disconnect. One is by hosting a ‘singles’ (climbing singles, not romantic singles) night once a week. The other is by posting a paper list on the wall of the gym where anyone can add his or her name/phone number with the hope someone will call.

The ‘singles’ night is each Wednesday. Climbers can show up alone and get paired up with someone who is at roughly their same climbing ability. If no one is your exact match, staff at the gym will fill in to help you climb that night.

The ‘list’ is a funny thing. I learned that this list is posted on the wall by the pop machines and, at the time I saw it, had four pages of names, phone numbers, email addresses, climbing level and availability. The only thing is, the staff told me, apparently no one on the list ever calls each other.

If you’ve always wanted to try rock climbing, now is the time. You’ll have a blast – absolutely nothing to be scared of – you are in good hands with the instructors and will have enough knowledge and a base of skills to start climbing some of the easier walls right after the lesson.

I’d suggest the following clothing choices for your lesson: a short sleeved t-shirt or tank top, yoga pants/ shorts / cargo pants, and thin socks, as your feet will be scrunched into snug climbing shoes.

Get going now, and you’ll be able to enjoy outdoor climbing this summer.

http://www.joerockheads.com/joerockheadsflash.html

Written by Jennifer Kelly