Belay on!

I went indoor rock climbing with Bill and Julie yesterday. In all fairness, I had to take a belay (to belay is to control the the rope fed out to the climber) lesson first, so it wasn't all about me climbing, but also supporting fellow climbers. In the lesson, I learned about harnessing, how to tie climbing knots, how to work the grigri (A grigri is a hand-sized belay device designed to help secure rock-climbing. Also a talisman that protects the wearer from evil or brings good luck. Appropriate, don't you think?!), and how to stop a climber from falling too quickly.

This is Bill belaying Julie.

Julie climbing. Yes, this climb is as high as it looks. One of the highest in the rock climbing gym. If Wikipedia is correct, there is a grading system to rank the difficulty of the climb. This one is a 5.7. "Class 5 is considered true rock climbing, predominantly on vertical or near vertical rock, and requires skill and a rope to proceed safely. Un-roped falls would result in severe injury or death." Probably not in the gym tho', there's a lot of padding under the floor. Plus, there is always someone belaying you.


I attempted the same 5.7 at the end of the day. My arms were really tired and sore after the belay class and trying easier climbs. I could only make it about 2/3rds of the way up, arms screaming in pain, but mostly paralyzed by fear. Bill sez that rock climbing is a confidence builder. Yeah.

Really, I wasn't rocketing uncontrollably to the floor, really I wasn't! This expression is all for effect. Besides, Julie was belaying me, so everything was copasetic : .)