The class took place at the gym where I set the rock wall scene in Plain Jane's Prince Charming. Going in, I was a mix of nerves and excitement. The aviary of butterflies in my stomach made it hard to eat dinner. But the instructors were great. The other women in the class were awesome (ages 54 and down.) We even received gift bags at the end. Best of all, I loved it. I haven't enjoyed an activity as much as I liked rock wall climbing since learning to ski!Granted, I'm not a natural. I'm not strong. I'm not very athletic. I don't have a lot of flexibility or finesse. But I had a blast. My fear of heights didn't get in the way. It was that much fun. I havn't stopped smiling. Remember those tingles I wrote about on Tuesday's post? Yep, I get tingles thinking about climbing again! I bought two five visit punch cards. Now all I need is someone to climb with, and I'm there.
The first wall wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Lots of holds so you could just go up until you reached the top (not to tall twenty feet or so.) After climbing and belaying a partner, I moved to the wall in the pictures with one of the instructors belaying me. This wall was the same height as the other only it didn't have as many holds. One minute I was on the wall climbing higher, the next off the wall in the air. That shocked me. I wasn't expecting it. But I didnt' freak, nor did I plummet to the ground. The equipment did its job and so did my belayer. I was suspended in mid-air. Safe and sound. As climbing cutie would say, "Physics."I quickly realized that falling was probably the best thing that could have happened to me! No more fear of falling since I've already done it. Now I know I won't go splat against the ground, either. One of the instructors told me if you don't fall, you aren't trying hard enough.
Needless to say, I can't wait to climb again. There is a lot of room for improvement (so much I don't even want to think about it) and that's only going to happen if I can get out there more! Plus it's just so much darn fun! Who wouldn't want to do this?
Have you ever thought about climbing a rock wall? If yes, what's stopping you? If no, why not?
