Metolius Rock Rings

A while ago I mentioned that I was trying something new in rock climbing. I am fairly busy with work and day-to-day annoyances and so am not able to get to the climbing gym as often as I would like. I needed another way to practice for when I can’t get to the gym and a way to build my endurance so that I don’t look like a complete goober when I do get there. After searching around on the internet I came across these…

….the Metolius Rock Rings. I have thoroughly enjoyed using these since I got them. I hung them from the ceiling in my shed out back and went to town. They have several different holds that you can do including a jug, deep incut 4 finger pocket, 4 finger flat edge and a 3 finger pocket. They also come with a training guide that seems pretty solid.  It took me about a week or two to build up enough strength just to do the first few exercises correctly.  It will take me quite a bit longer to get through the whole routine, but I am looking forward to the challenge!  I’ll let you know how I do the next time I’m at the gym.

Summit Climbing Gym

So in the spirit of adventure, I decided to try something new. I went to a local climbing gym here in Dallas, Summit Climbing Gym, and tried to give it a go. It was extremely intimidating to say the least. There were lots of people who all looked like they really knew what they were doing and then there was me. Before I got there I had already decided to try out “bouldering” simply because you can do it by yourself. As an added bonus there weren’t any people over there so I wouldn’t be laughed at and ridiculed for making a fool of myself.

I found climbing to be extremely enjoyable and quite challenging. You could make it as hard or as easy as you wanted depending on the route that you chose and it was very satisfying to figure out the problem of climbing to the top. Shortly, though, I was joined by several other climbers all of towering stature. My 5′ 9″ frame was quickly dwarfed by four guys who had to all be around 6′ 4″ and they flat out glided up and down the wall when they climbed. It was pretty amazing to a beginner like me.

So after watching them for a while, crying in the girls bathroom over my climbing inadequacies and then climbing a bit more I called it a day. With very sore muscles and feet I crawled into my car and decided that it wasn’t so bad and that I might even try that again.

The gym was nice by the way. Friendly staff, nice and clean and plenty of space to climb!

Sean