Indoor Rock Climbing

Back in August we decided to visit an indoor rock climbing gym here in the area. It was a lot of fun and there are climbing walls/routes for all ability levels, so everyone was able to participate. Since then, we have returned several more times and found it to be a nice family activity as well as great exercise.

We've received some requests for pictures, so here they are. We're still working on getting a good picture of Tamra in action - so stay tuned.


On October 29th, I decided to enter a climbing competition at the gym. This was a bouldering competition. Bouldering is basically climbing short routes without using a rope/harness. The routes (or "problems") are marked with colored tape, indicating which holds you are allowed to use. Each problem has a point value, and your score for the event is the aggregate point value of the six highest scoring problems that you complete.

The first 3 pictures below show me progressing through the highest scoring problem that I was able to complete.


This problem started on the inside right wall of this little cave section, then up the wall, down under the red pyramid-looking thing, across the ceiling, and then up the face on the outside of the cave to the top.

FYI - the clown wig was not a personal fashion statement. Given that it was Halloween weekend, you could get some bonus points for coming in costume.

This is one of the other problems I was working on. I didn't finish at the competition, but was able to do so on a trip to the gym this past weekend - as did Tamra. (The costume bonus is also the explanation for the gorilla costume this guy was wearing).

The competition drew a total of 35-40 climbers, across 5 divisions. There were 10 climbers in the recreational (beginner) division, and I came in 7th - not bad considering this was only my 5th time climbing. However, there was at least one 8 yr old girl that finished ahead of me, so I wouldn't call myself a climbing prodigy either (though I will note that there was no testing for performance-enhancing drugs at this event).

There is another bouldering competition at the end of January, and I'm looking forward to seeing how much progress I can make between now and then. Rumor has it Tamra is looking to enter the January competition as well!