So yesterday I took the kids to an indoor rock-climbing center. They'd been taking a class at the local YMCA for rock-climbing, and as an end-of-session "field trip" they'd gotten a free morning at this center. The Y was bringing their gear (they have a small indoor rock-wall room and the necessary harnesses and other gear), so the admission was free. So off we went to check the place out and do some climbing.
Come to find out, the place is really nice. They have two separate sections, one that requires a harness (~ 20' high) and one that does not (~ 10' high). The section that does not require a harness has padded areas under it, and a flat portion on the top that climbers can reach and then observe the other areas. Needless to say, it proved to be quite the incentive for TheBoy to climb all the way to the top. Heck, they even got me to climb all the way up!
It's a pretty intense workout - you need both upper- and lower- body strength to climb using nothing more than your fingertips and toenails for leverage. It was interesting to see how the kids handled the physical challenge in their individual ways: TheBoy used his upper body strength (when did my son start developing muscles? He's eight, for cryin' out loud!) and long reach to finally claw (literally) his way to the top, swinging his legs over in triumph and gloating over his smaller, weaker sibling.
Who then proceeded to walk over to the staircase on the side and calmly walk up to the top...
That is all.
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4 comments:
Wall-climbing is awesome... Tried to go as often as I could when I was back in college. Granted, being afraid of heights and a twiggy bastard were no real benefits, but it was still fun.
The guys who climb on the horizontal walls 50 feet over the floor are flipping nuts, though.
Awesome! I'm sure a picture at the moment the older boy realized what the younger was doing would be absolutely priceless, too! LOL!!!
Good post! Glad they are getting the physical exercise! Gotta love the younger one's approach too :-)
There's not many good mountains to climb in the middle of Illinois, but retired concrete grain silos make surprisingly nice climbing gyms. Sounds like you had a great time!
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