ROCKING THE BASICS!

2/19/20- Our crew came to class with a variety of climbing backgrounds and brought our instructor a class dynamic he had never experienced before. You could say that we quickly learned a lot about each other by seeing how each person handled the overwhelming, fast-paced environment!

ABBY

I had rock climbed once or twice before on family vacations, so I thought this was going to be a breeze! My experience with auto-belays had done nothing to prepare me for actual rock climbing, though. Honestly, I hadn’t realized there was a difference! Our class was only two hours, so it was pretty fast-paced and overwhelming with so much information to cover and remember. Climbing itself didn’t concern me. What did concern me was figuring out how to properly belay and tie a rope. Being able to struggle with my teammates, but also encourage one another definitely helped me persevere through the learning process!

JESSICA

I had never rock climbed before taking the beginners class so needless to say, I was terrified. My mind was so clouded with fear I had struggles focusing. I am not afraid of heights, but had heard that your arm strength needed to be in top shape to be successful. The knot tying was very difficult and I found myself asking a million questions and re-tying the knot. I got the belay down right away which was a self-esteem booster for me! Overall, the class was very informative and I got to know how my teammates do under stress, so that was fun!

JAY

Personally, I have only ever rock climbed once in my life and that was when Dick’s Sporting Goods had their rock climb wall back in the day. But, that was nothing compared to learning the basics on how to rock climb the right way. Something that also helped me with my experience is the fact that we had a good instructor that knew his stuff and showed us the ropes. Lol I made a punny. Anyways, doing something I never done before is always fun because it takes me out of my comfort zone and to do it with a team that is in the same boat that I am in makes the experience even better. One thing I can say that is guaranteed everytime that you climb is you will get a full body work out every time. You’ll feel it in every muscle in your body which is good for you too. Lastly, this rock climbing gave me a chance to get closer to my team and make new friendships in the process which is a cherry on top for me.

MADDY

I had rock climbed a few times at camp but nowhere near something like what we were getting ourselves into. The first time I had climbed at a camp I cried a lot and it took me forever to get up the wall haha! Walking into the Outdoor Adventure Center was pretty intimidating if I’m being honest. We also looked like dorks walking in with wide eyes and tons of equipment. The first class was very fast pace and kind of awkward because we were still trying to get to know each other, but it was very informative! The hardest part of the class was mastering the knot, but the climbing part came pretty easy to me. I was scared I was going to forget everything we learned for the next week though. That class brought our group closer which was awesome!

AUNI

I had some experience as a Sophomore in college. I had climbed with a few friends last year and had somewhat of an idea of what was going on. They influenced me to take the test and get certified. I took the test, but never went back to get certified. Going through the whole process again I was so excited because I knew I was going to have to get certified. I think the one thing I struggled with the first time I tried getting certified was the parallel lines with the ropes/ knots. The second time around I just needed a little refresher and I attacked the process with more confidence and it was easier for me to do it all over the second time.