Rock Climbing Gym
This weekend I went rock climbing with my friend Brad, the guitarist in my old band. Friday night we went to Rockreation, a rock climbing gym in Costa Mesa. The majority of the place was covered in bolted-in handholds, as you can see in the photo. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a ton about rock climbing. As with any sport, there’s a whole other vocabulary to learn just to get by.
If I lived close to a rock climbing gym, I could see myself getting a membership (about $50/month). The only thing that would bug me is the dependency on a belayer (someone holding the other end of the rope). I’d rather not have to rely on someone else I know being there to get a climb in, and I’m not the type that would just ask someone random. They do have a section for “bouldering,” which is basically low level technical climbs that you can do without a spotter. That might be good enough. I’ve also been on rock climbing walls where the belay is an automatic pulley system that doesn’t require another person. I think that would be ideal if I were going to join a gym.