Rock Climbing Class April 2009

Me on the first climb
Tiff trying to move to the left side of the cave

Tiff first climb

Our group setting up the anchor system

So after a few more weeks of skiing in March at Pajarito and Taos, we wrapped up the ski season, plus a few skin ups. In April Tiffany and I started a rock climbing class with friends Krista, Christina, and Diana. This class is put on by the Los Alamos Mountaineers, there are 25 students ranging from High School to 60 years old.

Every Monday night for six weeks we have classroom classes and then outdoor climbs on Saturday mornings. http://lamountaineers.org/zSCHOOL.html

Class 1 was all about gear, figure 8 and bowline knots, and general things to know. Krista and I took a Friday trip to REI so that I could buy gear for the class. Then had a great dinner at Jinja with some of my work friends.

Class 2 we talked about belaying, anchors and how to set up anchor systems, we checked out gear to get ready for our climbs. On Wednesday we practiced belaying and comands, etc at the YMCA. On Saturday it was really windy, but we went to Potrillo and set up our anchors and once we were down at the bottom of the cliffs it was not as windy but still cold. We climbed for about 3 hours, it was great to have the three dimensional aspect of the outdoor rocks which you could leverage against. My favorite quotes of the day were "Just put your foot up on that hold next to your left shoulder" (were they kidding) and as Tiff tried to move from one side of the cave to the other, a guy says "If it were me, I would try to swing across to the other side and pull myself up onto the left", Tiffany replies with "that's great, but what would you do if you were me". After A group of us went to lunch at Pyramid Cafe, it was a fun day.

Class 3 we learned two new knots, the fisherman and the water knot, we discussed rappelling, and climbing techniques. Krista, Tiffany and I went and became belay certified on Wednesday so that we could go to the gym and practice. Tiff and I stayed and did a few climbs. Saturdays climb and rappell were cancelled due to snow and thunderstorms, you don't see lighting with your snow everyday, that's spring in NM.