Rock climbing

The day after Thanksgiving 2008, I went rock climbing with my brother in law Evan. I have done it once before, but this was my first official one.

There are 2 types of climbing, one is usually a very tall wall, and you need to tie yourself to one edge of the rope while the other person that with you is tied to the other edge. It is very important to communicate with the other person since he is supposed to hold the rope in case you fall. Once you get to the top (if you do), you have to signal the person at the bottom and make sure he is ready to get you down; he can do it by releasing the rope slowly while still pulling the rope down which makes it still partially locked. The second type is climbing on low walls without ropes. An individual climber places a thick mattress at the bottom in case of a fall. It is usually more technical and if he gets to the top he can dab the X and then he jumps on the mattress.

All the walls have little rocks, and each rock has a piece of colored tape underneath that indicates the track that you are climbing on. There are different levels of tracks; harder tracks require you to use different technique since the rocks are spread on the wall and are pretty far from each other. On the other hand, easy tracks have more rocks and the rocks are closer to each other; what makes it easier to climb since you don't need to make big steps, and you have more options.

It was a fun experience and very challenging. However, there was something that made me feel uncomfortable. Using certain muscles that I normally don't use, caused me some kind of weakness in my arms, and it felt scary being up high without being able to hold myself close to the wall. But eventually I got used to it even though it was hurting from time to time. But like in every sport, practicing improves your abilities.