Climbing...Climb On

What seems like eons ago, Dan, Ben, Kaitlyn and I decided to go to the climbing wall (in all actuality it was in the middle of the fall semester).  One week after that, Dan and I went climbing one time.  I haven’t been since. 
            Dan invited me to go to the PEIF with him, Angela, Ben and Chris to work out on Wednesday.  When I got there, Dan, Ben and Chris were at the wall.  Now Dan and I got belay certified (that means we’re allowed to be the “anchor” for the climber, keeping them from falling) that second time we went climbing.  Ben and Chris aren’t certified, but Dan was going to belay for them so they could climb (meaning he couldn’t because he had no one to belay for him, awe…nice guy).  So when I showed up, everyone got to climb.  I even decided to try too.  I’m not very good, but I had fun.
            Angela and Ben were going to get belay certified today, and Cat was going to the craft show at the dome with Mary, so I decided to go climbing again (rather than sit on my butt at home by myself).  It was great.  I found a route on the wall that I like a lot.  I couldn’t make it to the top but I tried.  I got about ¾ of the way up (which is really good for me, to date I have yet to reach the top of any climb).  So anyway, we had a really good time climbing.  I need to work on my upper arm strength a lot and on my hand strength too.  It actually takes a lot of strength in you fingers to hang on to the holds on the wall (especially considering that some of them are barely the size of a small skipping stone).
            The part of climbing I like the most is coming down.  That seems kinda odd for me, because I don’t like roller coasters, I don’t like going downhill fast, I don’t even like to ride in elevators that you can feel moving.  But there is something about rappelling down the wall that I really like (except when Dan leaves me hanging just far enough of the ground that only the tips of my toes touch the ground).  The other thing that seems odd about that is that you really have to trust your belay, and I don’t often trust people (I want to be in control, I mean if they goof…SPLAT).  So climbing may be good for me, not just as exercise but also as a character building experience!