Learning the Ropes at Elevation Place

With winter around the corner and a desire to keep up with physical fitness, Lauren bit the bullet and picked up an annual Go Beyond family pass to Elevation Place.  It’s something we’ve been taking advantage of over the last couple of months – me on the treadmill in the cardio room, Lauren doing spin core classes, and taking our sons Ben and Will to the pool.  The one area we haven’t really explored is the Climbing Gym.

I attempted to tackle this area of Elevation Place while I was doing the 30/30 Challenge last winter with mixed results.  I hadn’t been back after taking an Intro to Climbing core class where the rest of the participants were climbing 5.10b routes and I was alone on the kiddie wall.  But it’s something I’d wanted to attempt again so when Jasper Johnson from the Town of Canmore offered to be my climbing partner to take a modified version of their belay course I jumped (climbed?) at the chance!

Scott McKay did an excellent job going over how to properly put on a climbing harness and tie an easy but secure knot, as well as proper communication with your climbing partner.  I went up an easy 5.6 pitch first and was happy that I still remembered some of Tahashi’s tips from that Intro to Climbing class many months ago.  Move one thing at a time.  Think about where you’re going to go before you move.  ‘Glue hands’ and ‘glue feet’ – don’t shift around once you’ve found your hold.  I made it most of the way up before my lingering childhood fear of heights kicked in and I signaled a readiness to come down.  Letting go of a wall and trusting a partner to lower you down properly is probably one of the most intimidating things for new climbers but I closed my eyes, reminded myself of the high expertise and commitment to safety from the staff at Elevation Place, and leaned back. Whew!

Jasper was up next and Scott showed me proper belay technique.  It took a little bit to get into a rhythm of tightening up the rope as Jasper got higher but really the most important thing seemed to be just having at least one hand on the rope at all times.  When Jasper was done I sat back and was surprised how easy it was to lower him down.

I tackled the wall one more time, once again almost making it to the top before my bad back told me it was time to stop.  But as I was being lowered down one final time I felt a lot more confident on the wall than I was a couple of hours before!

I spoke with Scott about some of the services they offer at Elevation Place for both new and experienced climbers.

During their two-hour belay class you really do tie that knot enough times to commit it to memory.  I’d now feel comfortable bringing, say, my six-year-old son Ben to the wall, letting him climb, and knowing how to get him up and down safely without assistance.  Thanks Scott and Jasper!