TIMELINE
CLIMBING WEEK ONE
We all really didn’t know what to expect. Only Liz had rock climbed before. We showed up and the first thing we learned is that we needed a media pass, and we could only take pictures of our group members which was fine. The first thing we did was meet our instructor. She was a character. She was one of those people that you meet who tries to be as funny as possible all of the time. We started off the class by going over which kitchen utensil we would if we could choose and why. Nick, another guy who joined our class said he would be a spoon. This resulted in our instructor asking if he liked to spoon (cuddle). See what I mean?
Anyways after we did introductions the first process we learned was how to use the climbing wall. There are no harnesses or safety protections along the climbing wall beside an air mat on the bottom. The wall only goes up 14 feet to protect the climber. The most important thing to remember when using the wall is to fall with your arms cross and knees bent. Even though there is a mat, it’s still really easy to break bones if you use them to brace yourself.
We also learned what a damaged rope looks like. It is really important before you begin climbing to inspect your rope to make sure there is nothing wrong with it. If you use a rope that has damage, you are greatly enhancing the risk of injury/death.
Next, we learned about harnesses. Harnesses have three checks. You want them to be as high as your hip bones. You want to make sure the belt and leg loops are tight against you but not tight enough where they hurt you. You finally want to make sure the green loop is in front, so you can tie in easily. Once again, if your harness isn’t correct, you could face serious consequences.
Then came the figure 8 knot. The figure 8 knot also has three checks. You want there to be one set of parallel lines in the beginning, three in the actual loop and one at the end of the line. Tying the figure 8 knot took a while to learn, especially for Cody and Daril. However, once you get the hang of it, the knot comes pretty naturally.
We then started to learn about the carabiner. You want to make sure the lock of the carabiner is locked otherwise you risk the chance of losing your climber. You want to make sure nothing inside of the carabiner like the rope overlaps anything else because it makes your life that much harder. Finally, you want to make sure the carabiner is facing the right way because if it isn’t, it again makes your job harder.
The last thing we learned was about belaying. Belaying is probably the second hardest thing beside the figure 8 knot. You want to make sure that you have proper form when belaying. The three steps she showed us were to pull, lock and slide. It took a while for everyone to get used to belaying. It’s a lot easier to practice when someone is tied in to the other end of the rope or it doesn’t make much sense.
We finally started climbing after learning this information. I was with Daril and another guy named Nick. Daril decided to test Nick and Cody because he accidentally slipped and fell. Luckily for him, we already knew what we were doing by this point. The last steps we learned about were tying into a floor belay and how to auto belay. These weren’t essential to know but still very useful. Overall, we had a great time the first week and were ready to begin our adventure.
CLIMBING WEEK TWO
Week 2 of rock climbing was hard. Well, for some of us. We all showed up nervous about our skills test. It had been about a week since we took the basics class, so we tried to study in the morning to remember what we were doing. Carlie and Cody showed up first, so they had the “privilege” of trying to past the skills test first. Let’s just say it didn’t go so well. Cody could not remember how to tie the figure 8 knot while Carlie was struggling with the belay. It would have helped if the rock-climbing place wasn’t so noisy when we took our tests but oh well. It also would have helped if our instructor during the class would have told us that we actually needed to learn how to use the floor belay. Anyways, the instructor said that we both had the basic idea of rock climbing, but he wasn’t comfortable passing us because we didn’t have the specifics. We went over to the side of the room and began practicing the things we needed to work on.
Alyssa, Daril, and Liz, on the other hand, lucked out and got to watch Carlie and Cody get taught on how the specifics of being a climber and belaying the person climbing. They ended up passing no problem. While Carlie and Cody did feel happy for them, they agreed it wasn’t fair. Liz had already rock climbed before and Daril was good at it too.
Carlie and Cody ended up going back the next day to take the skills test again while all of the fundamentals were still fresh in their mind. They had an easier instructor which could be a good thing or bad thing depending on your view. They passed no problem. They remembered everything from moving the belay to the commands involved in climbing. Now, everyone was ready to begin rock climbing on their own with a free yearly pass as a UNL student. This will come in handy whenever we want to rock climb for exercise.
CLIMBING WEEK THREE
Well, it was our first week of climbing as a group. This was the true test of all of us. We had to climb without an instructor. We started getting geared up and tried to look as professional as possible. As a group, we really didn’t have an idea of how good each other was. We had climbed a little bit but really didn’t have a clue.
Daril led the group in rock climbing. We all within minutes figured out he is above the rest of us in skill level, even though he had never climbed before. The rest of the group members agreed we had never seen somebody climb so fast. Daril reached the top on the first day which was Carlie’s goal for the entire time. We all agreed Daril should rock climb professionally.
The biggest challenge of climbing by ourselves was that we had to know all of the check points. Like our instructor said when we took the skills test, it’s not necessarily the fact that you don’t know what to do, it’s the fact that you recognize it’s wrong. We each made sure with other group members that our checks were correct before we let any climbing happen. This is an essential step, so we don’t fall from 40 feet in the air.
Cody had to be taught for the third week in a row how to tie the figure 8 knot. This was a theme for the entire time we went rock climbing. He was trying to make sure that his group members didn’t drop him. This was the week when he realized he trusted machines more than humans.
Carlie continued with the climbing. We figured out she is probably the least comfortable with it do to her extreme fear of heights. She went on the side of the 5.5 but went up only about 30 feet and was also rainbowing. We also figured out this week that Carlie doesn’t trust machines proving to be the exact opposite of Cody. “The government controls the auto belays,” Carlie said.
CLIMBING WEEK FOUR
Climbing this week was a blast. Cody, Daril, and Carlie went on Monday while Liz and Alyssa went on Tuesday. Cody and Carlie were waiting for Daril, so they decided to do some work on the auto belays. Cody, as we know, would much rather do the auto belays. Let’s just say that’s not the case with Carlie. He talked her into attempting one so up she went. And then down. And then up. And down again. And up again. She did this a number of times. Carlie went up about 10 feet on the wall and was “stuck” she tried repeatedly to go down, but that was too scary. She tried to climb higher but that was scary too. She could not move. Cody had no idea what she wanted him to do. She literally said, “Help me.” She couldn’t be helped. Carlie was stuck on the same spot of the wall for ten minutes. She somehow eventually worked up the courage to climb back down the wall which you’re not supposed to do. Carlie had two feet to go and then she finally jumped and “trusted” the machine. She then proclaimed “I will never do auto-belays again.” She was out of breath and sweating. Cody had never seen anyone so terrified. It was the funniest thing he had EVER seen.
Carlie then had to leave for a meeting, but Cody and Daril started rock climbing together. Daril used the auto belay and went up all of the way. He still has the problem of thinking he did a 5.6 or 5.7 even though he was rainbowing. Anyways, he did that for a while because Cody was tired from climbing earlier. They eventually went over to the bouldering wall and tried to do that, but they still aren’t good enough climbers. They went up about five feet before they gave up and fell back on the mat. To wrap things up, Daril went on the auto belay again but on a different side. He went on the side where there were two 5.8 routes. Daril managed went all the way to the top and then proceeded to boast about completing a 5.8 route. Again, Daril refused to believe he cheated. The rest of us know the real answer.
CLIMBING WEEK FIVE
It was our last time climbing. Everybody had mixed emotions. Some wanted to be done because they didn’t like climbing (Carlie). Others will probably continue climbing in the future to see how far they can progress (Daril). Cody, Alyssa, and Liz went rock climbing on Monday. Daril and Carlie went on Tuesday. Liz and Cody got started without Alyssa because she was still on her way back from work. Cody used the auto-belay which is his favorite since he has trust issues, although they have improved over time. He was an over-achiever and reached the top of a 5.6 which is his highest. Liz then had to do it prove she was just as good and of course, she did it. They both used chalk for their hands which really helped. Cody paid for climbing shoes. They were nice while too tight on his feet. Alyssa went up 75% of the 5.5 when Cody was belaying her which was the highest she ever has gone. She was very proud of herself. Liz then tried to go up the 5.7 and went up about 75% of the way. Cody then had to try the same thing and reached the exact same spot Liz did. Clearly, all three of them improved each time they went climbing.
Carlie and Daril had their session the next day where they also tried using the chalk and each rented a pair of climbing shoes. It started out with Carlie climbing the 5.5 and Daril belaying. With some moral support given by Daril, Carlie managed to go around 65% of the 5.5 route. Next, Daril refused to do the 5.5 since he was bored of it already. They ended up choosing something new for Daril. Daril’s shoulder was “injured” so his amount of climbing was limited. The rest of us think it was an excuse for not reaching the top of certain route. His first route of the day was labeled 1500 points and was not really difficult. Daril managed to go half of the route which is an achievement, but he did do some rainbowing. He then tried out a 2500 points route but only managed to climb 30% of it. His feet seemed to be too big to step on some of the rocks. Carlie also tried one of the routes with pointers. She went on one labeled 500 points but could only climb around 30% of it. She was stuck for around 30 seconds on this one. With such routes, they found that the shoes and chalk were too. They said it brings more of a grip to climbing each rock. Lastly, Daril went to the top of 5.7 with Carlie belaying. At the end of the session, they improved quite a bit in terms of climbing more in a single session compared to the other days.
