About a year and a half ago Jordan and I decided to join a rock climbing gym. We found Grand River Rocks in Kitchener and it has been one of the best places in the world to us. We've brought tons of friends to join us, I've started taking yoga, and we've really seen our skills develop in the time we've been climbing.
This past weekend we got the chance to move on to the next big, bad challenge: outdoor rock climbing.
Jordan had met a friend at tradeschool who had a lot of experience in outdoor rock climbing so we had a great guide for our first time climbing outside. We met in Milton and climbed Rattlesnake Point.
Let me tell you, this was WAY harder than I had imagined. This was definitely a step up from indoor rock climbing! When you're indoors you're following a set path that someone engineered for you. Outside, you pick the path, and that can make it a lot easier on you, or a lot harder.
I was climbing up a wall and following the crack of the wall when my instincts took me to the right. I found myself very far right from where the rope was, which meant if I fell, the rope would swing me back underneath it. The below picture shows in green where I should have been and in yellow where I actually was:
I was holding on to the wall trying to find my next hold and my legs started shaking. I didn't feel confident enough in my next move to just go for it so I decided I'd rather let go and be prepared for the swing. I sat back, let go of the rock and the rope pulled me quickly back towards the crack. It was a quick swing and I hit the rope on the way, almost pulling my belayer over. The hit didn't hurt and I mostly had control of my swing, not to mention my belayer quickly and confidentially handled the whole situation. It was a bit scary, but also exhilarating. That's just an example of how much harder outdoor rock climbing can be.
From the desk of:
Taylor Brown
The Girl Who Fought a Rope and Lived to Tell the Tale
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