Climbing the walls

By the title of this post, I don't mean I'm going crazy in Hamilton (well, maybe occasionally) - I mean we have literally been climbing.

Back in the T-Dot, we were avid gym-goers. Nothing wrong with that, right? The problem is that workout-wise, for the last couple of years, going to the gym (and sometimes running around the neighbourhood) was all we did.

Hubby and I recently decided that we would use this move to explore our different exercise options. We tried out a gym downtown for a couple of weeks - nothing wrong with it, but the parking was actually more complicated than our Toronto gym (!) and it wasn't quite as fancy, equipment-wise.

As a result, we've started looking into more niche choices. We explored the possibility of membership in a tennis club near us, for example. A good Yoga class is something else I'm hoping to locate. And on Saturday, we made an interesting impulse decision (about 20 minutes before the class started) to sign up for an indoor rock climbing lesson at Gravity Climbing Gym (on Frid Street).

I'll admit, this was hubby's idea - he was really into rock climbing a decade or so ago, and I thought (with some hesitation) that I'd give it a go as well.

We walk in - first think I notice is that, man, those walls are higher than I thought! Second - there are hand and food holds (whatever they're called) on the CEILING and third - there are nine year old kids in here, shimmying up the wall like its no big deal.

An hour or so of learning how to harness ourselves and tie the right knots and we're off - ready to climb the mountain (okay, maybe I'm being a big baby).

I went first, with hubby as the belayer. Surprisingly, if you're focused on the rocks and where you're going to step/hold next, its not that scary (ie: don't look down, or up.) Next, it was time for me to hold the rope (belay) as hubby climbed the wall....this part was actually scarier than climbing, although in actual fact, the rope's mechanism does all the real heavy lifting.

After a few more practice runs up the wall, it was turning into a real workout and three hours later, we were pros (well, not exactly, but definitely more comfortable with the whole heights thing.)

I was feeling pretty good about my wall-scaling (making it to the top on a couple of occasions and coming up just short on others because I felt I had climbed high enough!)until the instructor mentioned that a nine-year old kid had climbed in that same spot earlier, and made it to the top no problem! lol. I also failed to mention that there was a FOUR-year old child climbing beside us. Hubby tells me that its easier for kids - they have no fear. Once you have three-plus decades under your belt, the preconceived (irrational) fears can sometimes get the better of you!

I didn't take any photos while we were there, which I'm regretting now! I know we'll be going back though - I can see this becoming a semi-regular activity for us in The Hammer.