Rockclimbing
Jun. 29th, 2004 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyesSo, today I went rockclimbing at Vedauwoo And despite the fact my torso and three out of four limbs hurt like hell, I had fun.
I did two and a half climbs. The first two were pretty difficult for me -- while our instructors said women often had an easier tiem starting out because women have less strengthh in their arms than men, which keeps them from trying to climb with their arms and not their legs. Basically we were supposed to use our legs for climbing and our arms for balance. We got special shoes that were designed to help you balance on next to nothing -- there was a point during my third climb where I had my weight resting on a outcropping about the size of a large marble -- it was defintly smaller than my big toe. They were also supposed to be about a size too small --- very much like gloves for the feet.
I also found out another advantage and a disadvantage to being a female climber. The disadvantage is that women tend to be shorter than men. This means that they have less access to hand and footholds. The advantage... well, we were using seat harnesses, which basically meant we were held up by a waist strap and straps that went accross the thighs and connetced ot the belt in front and back. Considering the times the harness (and the rope attached to it) caught me when I slipped and fell, and the spots that tended to get pulled by the harness, let's just say I'm glad I'm not male. Of course,t he guys could have been using a modified harness design.
Strangly enough, I felt prefectly safe in the hraness -- well, a little unsfe when coming down because then the rope was slacker than goin gup. When I slipped and fell off the rock face (which happened often) the worst that would happen was the rope would try to pull me towards center. Despite the fact my feet were dangling 30 feet above the ground and every limb I had (plus my eyes) were looking for anythign that could be used as a handhold, the harness (and the instructor holding the belay rope) made me feel like falling was not an option.
By the third climb, I was sore and the storms were rolling in, so I only got about half way up. It didn't help that that site took a lot of scrambling to get to the ropes -- There were spots where the instrucftor spent more time helping me up than he did on helping some of us climb. Probably why he made sure I was on belay when we had to go down in the rain. Strangly -- except on that last climb when I left my hand get caught between the rock and my climbing rope -- that hurt a lot -- coming down didn't bother me, though the ionstructors kept telling me to lean bck in the harness and straighten my legs. Basically, when going up you are supposed to balance on your toes and stay as vertical as possible, so that gravity pulls you against your footholds and keeps you up. When coming down you are supposed to lean back in your harness and 'walk' down the rock face, keeping your whole foot solidly against it.
Total injury count:
-- Two skinned knees, form the fact I banged intot he rock a lot.
-- Two sore legs, probably from the same.
-- Skinned elbow, probably from same.
-- Skinned ankle, from shoes rubbing against feet.
-- Skinned left hand and bandaged finger -- from a combination of rope and rock, with a dash of gravity.
-- Sore torso -- from a combination of falling on my harness and accidentally slamming myself into a rock face on a descent once.
I bumped my head at leats twice, but that was protected by a helmet.
I did two and a half climbs. The first two were pretty difficult for me -- while our instructors said women often had an easier tiem starting out because women have less strengthh in their arms than men, which keeps them from trying to climb with their arms and not their legs. Basically we were supposed to use our legs for climbing and our arms for balance. We got special shoes that were designed to help you balance on next to nothing -- there was a point during my third climb where I had my weight resting on a outcropping about the size of a large marble -- it was defintly smaller than my big toe. They were also supposed to be about a size too small --- very much like gloves for the feet.
I also found out another advantage and a disadvantage to being a female climber. The disadvantage is that women tend to be shorter than men. This means that they have less access to hand and footholds. The advantage... well, we were using seat harnesses, which basically meant we were held up by a waist strap and straps that went accross the thighs and connetced ot the belt in front and back. Considering the times the harness (and the rope attached to it) caught me when I slipped and fell, and the spots that tended to get pulled by the harness, let's just say I'm glad I'm not male. Of course,t he guys could have been using a modified harness design.
Strangly enough, I felt prefectly safe in the hraness -- well, a little unsfe when coming down because then the rope was slacker than goin gup. When I slipped and fell off the rock face (which happened often) the worst that would happen was the rope would try to pull me towards center. Despite the fact my feet were dangling 30 feet above the ground and every limb I had (plus my eyes) were looking for anythign that could be used as a handhold, the harness (and the instructor holding the belay rope) made me feel like falling was not an option.
By the third climb, I was sore and the storms were rolling in, so I only got about half way up. It didn't help that that site took a lot of scrambling to get to the ropes -- There were spots where the instrucftor spent more time helping me up than he did on helping some of us climb. Probably why he made sure I was on belay when we had to go down in the rain. Strangly -- except on that last climb when I left my hand get caught between the rock and my climbing rope -- that hurt a lot -- coming down didn't bother me, though the ionstructors kept telling me to lean bck in the harness and straighten my legs. Basically, when going up you are supposed to balance on your toes and stay as vertical as possible, so that gravity pulls you against your footholds and keeps you up. When coming down you are supposed to lean back in your harness and 'walk' down the rock face, keeping your whole foot solidly against it.
Total injury count:
-- Two skinned knees, form the fact I banged intot he rock a lot.
-- Two sore legs, probably from the same.
-- Skinned elbow, probably from same.
-- Skinned ankle, from shoes rubbing against feet.
-- Skinned left hand and bandaged finger -- from a combination of rope and rock, with a dash of gravity.
-- Sore torso -- from a combination of falling on my harness and accidentally slamming myself into a rock face on a descent once.
I bumped my head at leats twice, but that was protected by a helmet.
