The up/down climbing has an exponential rating scale. The easiest being 5.5. Ryan thought I could do a 5.8 in my first day, so he wanted me to get started quite quickly to "build up". I think I probably only got to a 5.7 (just guessing since the climb wasn't rated, but it was a tad more challenging than the 5.6 I had done earlier).

When I was on the green climb (the unrated, close to 5.7 climb), I got stuck. I was frustrated and couldn't get to the next hold. I would try and fail. It was very nerve-racking. When I finally gave up, a young boy wanted to do that climb. He must have been like 10 or 11. I told Ryan that if the boy could make it to the top, then I would try it again.

Gee now. Can you guess what happened? The boy made it to the top. So I knotted myself back in after he was done and I proceeded to get up to the point that I was stuck at last time. I did this little jump thing to get to the next hold that was being a bitch to me last time. I made it, although I kinda lost my footing somewhere along the way and had to use a hold that wasn't on that climb. I swore and was pissed at myself for not doing it perfect, but I was also happy with my determination. I think I just needed that competitive edge to push me hard enough.

I never want to be outdone by someone, let alone a KID, so I was more than ready to conquer that climb.

I must mention that while I was stuck the first time on that climb, I was staring at the weight machines. They were in my view. It was almost like they were calling my name, telling me to use them. To make myself feel strong again. I couldn't believe how much I missed weight lifting when I saw those beautiful machines available and waiting for me.

To the left of the weight machines was the bouldering area. I should probably explain what bouldering means first. Bouldering is like the up/down climbing, except you don't go very high, and therefore don't use a harness. Bouldering uses mostly upper body strength while up/down climbing uses more leg strength (in most cases) than arm strength. I had seen at college, somebody's basement that was converted into a bouldering area. The walls were covered in holds and mattresses lined the floor. This bouldering area was much bigger than the basement, and it had some more interesting areas (if a person were advanced enough) to try.

Since I'm an upper body type person, I wanted to try bouldering. Well, actually, that wasn't the real reason I wanted to try. I wanted to see how well I would do in comparison and see what the major differences were between the two climb types.

I was just standing on the mattress area, watching a few people moving about the bouldering area. I didn't even know where to start. I knew that I wasn't going to follow any pre-marked routes for my first try, so I wasn't concerned with that aspect. I just didn't know where a good starting hold would be and then which direction to go after that.

Ryan gave me a "route" to try. He said to start on the left and try to make it to the right. I'm just guessing here, but I think it was about 15 feet or so. The first time I tried, I fell off nearly immediately. Didn't get good footing to start with, so my balance was thrown off. When I attempted it a second time, I made it about 2/3rds to 3/4ths of the way across. I was really impressed with myself.

I know I would have lasted longer if I were in a tad better shape. I'm just impressed that I did so well. It was nice to see that I still had determination in me. I was afraid for awhile that I didn't have that spark anymore. But today, it was proven to exist in me afterall.

A nice revelation.

Carisa