My Rock Gym Adventure

Yesterday, I completed my first Quest: To attend a rock climbing class at a rock climbing gym. For the "why this is a big deal" statement, check out my first blog post on the matter. I'm here to report back on the Rock Gym adventure.

I arrived at the gym in my typical fashion; having done very little research, but with an adventurous spirit and a can-do attitude. Zinc was with me, and we were both ready to begin. The class started off well. There were four couples, all about the same age and the same level of experience (none). We were learning our ropes and knots (NOT my strong suit, but I didn't do half bad) and taking some practice climbs up the wall. I didn't make it very far but I didn't care; I just wanted to be able to try and that was fun.

Then, the perky instructor did something kind of strange. Rather than partner us up with the people we brought with us, she decided to partner us with strangers. I'm not sure the reasoning for this, but it's where it lost me. You see, I'm petrified. I'm petrified, but I'm motivated, because I've brought my Rock with me to see me through this. The element of trust was a completely necessary factor in my success for this experiment. When it was requested of me to put my faith in strangers, it set me up for failure. How could I possible explain to them why this was such a big deal for me? How I have a crippling fear of heights and this is my attempt to overcome it? That I'm here but I'm really nervous? Zinc had already been well versed in what to look out for. It just wasn't feasible to do this with another member of the class.

So, at that point, I bailed out of the class. I just couldn't cover gracefully convey my road blocks to a complete stranger so that they would know what to look out for when assisting me. More importantly, I did not want to be responsible for their safety when I was terribly uncomfortable.

In the end, I wouldn't call the experiment a complete wash. I've got far more upper body strength than I realized, and there were other parts of the gym where you could do rock climbing without the requirement of knowing belaying and having a partner. Truthfully, if I'd known that in the beginning, I would have skipped the class from the beginning and just practiced on those walls.

This does pose a very interesting question: I still need to work on this fear of heights. Does anyone have any suggestions for a gradual, feasible quest that I could repetitively do to assist me with this fear?

So, I'm on to Quest #2: Eat Vegetarian! Stay tuned for more details later in the week.

LuckyBroad