Rock climbing!
Christine and I have just taken up rock climbing. It's something she got into while in Sydney and she really wanted me to try it out to see if I liked it. So we signed up for the introductory course down at Portland Rock Gym, although it was really just a refresher course for Christine (Something the instructors quickly worked out when she tied up and scaled a 40' wall in about 10 seconds flat!).
I really learned a lot during the introductory lesson and quickly appreciated the cerebral side to rock climbing: it's not just mindless exercise or a boring workout, every ascent up the wall is a puzzle or a challenge that needs to be solved with a combination of co-ordination, brain power and (occasionally) brute strength!
I initially had problems with trusting that the belay rope was going to catch me if I fell (something that is hard to come to terms with when you're clinging to a wall 30' above the ground), but I've overcome that in the couple of times that we've been back and am really beginning to enjoy it now. And it is one heck of a workout, as you use muscles all over your body, including some I never knew existed!
Posted in: chaosboy, portland, sport on August 31, 2007 at at 5:02:00 PM