I haven’t been indoor rock climbing since college, so when I got a call today asking if I wanted to check out a climbing gym in Oaks, PA I figured I’d check it out.
My main rational for not checking out the local climbing gym, Go Vertical, earlier was the $65 belaying lesson fee. I know how to belay and tie knots, I just needed a refresher :). So we resolved to be honest with this gym in Oaks. “We’ve climbed before, we know how to tie the knots, we are just a little rusty.” They guy there had no problems. He brings us over, we do the quick belay test and he basically reminds everyone how to do it properly. It only took a little more prodding about how to do it correctly and we were set! No crazy beginners fee. Woot!
So now that we are all set and have passed the test there, we can walk in any time and buy a day-pass. Hopefully because of the skills refresher I can walk into Go Vertical sometime soon and just take the test there. It will save the 30 minute drive out to Oaks, and the gym will be much bigger.
I didn’t do too badly for my first climb in two years. By the end of the day I was on the 5.8 class climbs. My fingers, arms, abs and legs are currently a bit too sore.