A few weekends ago, I went indoor rock climbing with some friends.
After taking a one hour basic how-to-tie-ropes-and-belay class, the instructors gave us a day pass and let us clamber amok in the gym. One of the things that struck me was how airy the space seemed, despite being an enclosed warehouse. The planners had left the big warehouse doors open, so a steady breeze help the plastic and chalked innards fresh and pseudo-outdoorsy.
Difficulty for the walls scales from 5.1-5.15.  My first climb was a 5.3, followed by a finger straining 5.7, then a 5.9 which left me stuck halfway up. Our group, in general, seemed to find 5.9 to be the limit. One guy was impressively limber, and successfully did two 5.9s, but I couldn’t do either of the two that I tried. 5.8 was fine though.
I think I liked the experience, overall. Quite different from the (relatively) small Stanford climbing wall.
It’s nice to take on something semi-difficult (and yet you know that it’s doable, somehow), and have your friends shouting out pointers and support as you go up. Also nice to be able to sit back halfway up and take a break, hanging from a rope.
As always, pictures…
My friend Jess, stuck halfway up.
