Sport extreme: wall climbing for beginners

Since Adam had done a post on his adventures in surfing, I'd also like to share my passion for wall climbing if only to prove that some bloggers have a life, too, apart from composing a fairly decent article if they aren't busy doing what it is they normally do which might always translate to them not having a life in the eyes of those who think that they do. Have a life, I meant.

Enough rubbish and on with the article.

I have started doing the climbing bit to conquer my fear of heights and establish for myself a sport, something that I have not done since birth. Since the start of last year, I have tried inviting several people to join a starter-group at work if only to share with others the experience of getting high on adrenaline for the first time. I have long given up on the sales pitch, one, because those who I invited would eventually leave me cold for badminton. Two, because they might just not be extreme-sport material. Lastly, I have already found me a climb buddy who shares with me the same excitement of going up three storeys over and again, week after week since July, even though she's a she who apparently lives in the south.

Play Underground at the 3rd level basement in the Powerplant Mall has a more than modest offering of wall types that would satisfy the needs of both beginners and enthusiasts. For a reasonable fee (currently at P200 per hour on a weekday and P250 per hour on a weekend per person), you and your company are sure to be treated to a workout that's sure to detoxify even the worst possible stress the workplace could hurl your way. The fee would include your use of the walls, rental of top-quality Petzl harness, climbing shoes of your size, and a chalkbag for those sweaty palms. The readily helpful staff would more than oblige to teach and assist first timers on how to do proper belaying, climbing, and basic equipment handling. If in case you wanted to go climbing alone, an instructor could be hired for P300. Training classes are also available for those who want to up their expertise a notch.

The walls are varied according to the purpose of the climb. Do the easy "ladder" for warm-ups and progress to the "mother wall" if you already are more adventurous. A female colleague once did the seemingly ambitious climb-up and climb-down on the mother wall in her first visit so there really is no stopping on your progress if you push yourself much onto a similar feat. There are overhangs and angled walls for the advanced climbers so you won't easily get bored even if you had a fair number of visits to the place. Currently, markings take the place of color-coded rock holds for routes that could challenge the most ambitious.

For the acrophobe, the trick is to focus on the grips, holds, and the wall in front of you. Believe me, your distance from the ground would be the least of your worries once you got the hang of it, so to speak.

Tips for first time climbers:

• Take your time and climb at your own pace. Enjoy the experience and do not mind what onlookers might say. Experienced climbers had been beginners, too, at a certain point in their lives. The passive watchers on the other hand are envious of your guts to try the thing out, believe me.


• Rest as often as needed when already up in the wall. You could do so by pressing your body close to the wall while arms are extended. The closer your body is to the wall at rest position makes you recuperate easier as it does not add to muscular strains elsewhere (on either your arms or legs).


• The weight of your entire body should be centered on your feet. Most would let their arms carry their entire weight for them which could tire you faster. Use the arms as balance support. You will get the picture once you are doing the climb already.


• When feeling strains in your arms, wiggle a free hand upward with a couple of shakes then lower the same arm and do another set of shakes. This releases the lactic acid formation on strained muscles thus rendering your arm usable for the rest of the way up. Repeat the procedure with your other arm.

There are a number of tutorials on footwork and proper climbing posture available in the internet. I once did a research in my first few weeks of climbing and it really did help. Yep, no special classes for me. But that is if you get interested, more so get hooked on this fabulous extreme sport.

For information about local indoor climbing gyms, refer to the Sport Climbing Association of the Philippines site.

Original photo from here by Simon Sandoval.

posted by Fritz @ 9:10 PM