Rock Climbing...Difficult no matter how you look at it!

There is nothing like going rock climbing for the first time and having some curves thrown your way. By curves I mean a blindfold and being told to just use one leg. This was just another day in the disability sport class. We were introduced to the basics of rock climbing then basically given free reign to see what we could do. Immediately my fingers and forearms were screaming. I was wondering how I would make it through the rest of the class time. In the back of my head I thought about pacing myself, but it was too much fun.

The rock climbing room in the rec center is small, but has varied terrain to climb on. Flat walls give way to some undulations, then on to some overhangs to navigate. I tried my skills, or lack of, on the overhangs several times to no avail. Each time I would attempt a different section my arms kept screaming to stop. Technically we were told to try and use our legs more than our arms as well as keep the body close to the wall. You try to run those tips through your head, but as soon as you grab on to the wall it all goes out the window. Your natural instinct kicks in while your body is in survival mode. Even though you know you are strapped in and safe, but the mind tells you to hold on as tight as possible. There was little energy left to tell my legs to do some of the work.

After a few times up the wall I did get more confident. That confidence was short lived when it was time to don the blindfold. It would not be a disability sport class unless we had to throw some twist into the mix. Like other activities we have attempted, communication was key to being successful. We partnered up and tried our best to lead each other up the wall. By this time my arms were numb and I was hanging on by a thread. You had to hang on even longer while you tried to figure out where your partner was trying to tell you to make your next move. It was great to experience the difficulty of this. You really learn to trust your senses with each and every move.

Last but not least it was time to try and climb while using just one leg. Another option would have been to try with one arm, but after an hour of climbing already that was not going to happen. It was interesting to do some reading about rock climbing with a disability. Some people choose to use a prosthetic while others prefer to go without. It really seems to be personal preference as I was not able to find anything that said one way was better than the other. Using one leg forced me to concentrate more as I actually found I did use my one leg more to help propel myself upward as opposed to relying solely on my hands and arms.

It was great to experience an activity I have always been curious about but never had the chance to try before. Even though my arms tired out rather quick I can see myself going back to try and get better. There are many aspects of rock climbing that I would still need to learn, but this was the perfect way to get introduced to the sport. The most refreshing part was knowing that this sport, like all the others we have played, can be done by anyone. Here is a nice article I found on the Disabled Sports USA website. Make sure to check it out to learn more about rock climbing, no matter what your ability is.