rock climbing- just try it (General)

Name: mdmcaloon

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Product:	General
Date:	06/09/01 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: all weather, very rewarding

Disadvantages: expensive, centres are sparse

Rock climbing is a great sport which requires two or more people, determination and patience.

I started indoor rock climbing earlier this year after a friend had done it and really enjoyed it. On the first day I was shown the ropes (pun not intended) using their equipment which is up for hire.

The first few times you go I would recommend that you hire the equipment until you are sure you enjoy it and wish to carry on. After that you get the urge to get your own equipment. As the equipment is rather expensive it is probably best that you buy a bit a time. The equipment you will need is;
climbing shoes
harness
rope
belay
Karrabiner
chalk bag (this is not a necessity)

For the first few weeks you will do what is called top-roping. I find top-roping great as all you have to concentrate on is the climbing. Once you have pretty well mastered top-roping you will move on and do lead climbing. This is a lot harder and requires more nerves as you have to climb up while hooking the rope in yourself.

Each climbing wall is graded from 1a to 8c (1 being the easiest), because of the grade system your improvements are obvious unlike other sports such as football and tennis. This makes it very rewarding. Also unlike a lot of sports it can be done whatever the weather as it is indoo.

The downside of indoor climbing is that the equipment is expensive and that most indoor climbing centres are located in cities making it hard for people living out of the city.

To all the people that haven't experienced indoor climbing my advice is to give it a go and if you don't like it at least you can say you've tried it.

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