Rock Climbing

Warning: There are no pictures in this post. I know that can be hard to deal with sometimes as a blog reader. Maybe I'll pull some random ones from the internet to amplify the post. Anyway, something that Todd and I have enjoyed doing together since we were dating is rock climbing. And, miraculously, despite my tightwad-like nature, Todd even convinced me that we needed to have a membership to a rock climbing gym. This is our gym:

As a result, we try to go rock climbing a couple of times a week. The reason it's hard to get pictures is because there are only two of us, so one of us is on the wall and the other is on the ground belaying. Not a great system for someone to be taking pictures. But I'll supply you with some that are a fair representation of our skill level.

This is Todd:

This is me:

Okay, perhaps this is a slight misrepresentation :) But only because the girl in the picture is lead climbing, meaning that she isn't hanging from a top rope. She is pulling the rope up from the ground as the first one up the climb.

Todd had this great idea that we should take a lead climbing class. Well, it is a good idea because when we go visit family in Southern Utah, or when we just want to climb outside on our own, one of us can lead climb and then family or friends could benefit from a top rope on the same route.

The unfortunate part of the class is that you are supposed to be comfortable climbing 5.8s with no problems. The difficulty of a climb is measured no a scale from 5.0-5.15 or something. I'm comfortable with a 5.7. 5.8-5.9s are a little tricky for me. Todd is doing 5.10s, so he'll be fine. The other unfortunate thing about the class is that part of the "curriculum" is that you have to practice falling while lead climbing. This is scary because you fall a lot farther than when you are top rope climbing. If you slip while top roping and you have a good belayer, you hardly fall at all. If you slip while lead climbing, you can fall by an amount of feet!!!

Our class isn't until April, so I have a little while to get prepared. Speaking of April, my old roommate April is coming rock climbing with us at our gym this Friday, so maybe we'll get some pictures of all of us!