1st ever wall climb

I had my very first wall climbing experience today.  Took a Basic Wall Course (BWC) from Camp 5 at One Utama Shopping Complex with a group of 5 other inexperienced climber friends.  Camp 5 is an indoor climbing facility housed in a glass tower. They offer 2 courses for new climbers-Taster Session (1 hour class) and Basic Wall Course (4 hours class).  The BWC fee is RM100 inclusive of shoes and necesary equipments.  Gym entrance fee is RM28.  Not cheap.....

Upon arriving at the gym and having signed the necessary forms, we were taken to an upper floor for our 2 hours theory session.  We have to learn to identify all the important climbing equipment and we were taught how to wear the harnest, tying rope knots and how to be a belayer (a person who kinda acts like an anchor to secure the climber).  For our belay practice, we used sandbags in place of human beings and must remember the 5-steps of pulling the rope.  This was harder than I thought.  It really took a lot of energy out of me, not to mention blisters on my thumbarea.  We were then tested individually on our belaying skills. It is very important to know how to belay properly because a climber's security during the climb depends on the belayer.  Trust among one another is another important key.



After lunch, we were continued on with practical climbing session.  We were given individual harnest and proper climbing shoes.  We were taught the ABCDE of climbing ie. checking A-Anchor, B-Buckle, C-Carabiner&Knot, D-Device, E-Everything else (shoes, etc etc).  The climber and the belayer have to check each other to ensure everything is in order before climbing.  We were also taught the signalling calls eg.  On Belay (belayer's way of telling the climber that he/she is ready), etc etc, as well as the proper way to descend from the way.

Got some blisters on my hand during belaying practice.....put too much energy onto pulling the rope...guess I was too nervous!

We were divided into 2 groups of 3. Each of us has to do 2 rounds of climbing and 2 rounds of belaying, rotating amongst ourselves to be the belayer.  I was the first climber for my group.  At both my climbs, I only managed to climb 3/4 of the wall height as it was more scary that I had imagined.  As belayer, I was also having slight difficulty towards the end part of the climber's descend because the climber was heavier than me but I managed to hold on.  Since we had time left, we took on another round of climbing at a different section of the wall and this time I was able to climb all the way to the top.  Yeah! but still very scary..

Midway through our training, we saw a group of kids (not much older than 10 years old) starting their climbs (I think this was part of some activities) and damn, these kids can climb and they can climb FASTER than us!  All the way to the top too....shit, I felt so small then.  They were climbing like monkeys climbing trees.



We finished off our training with a short intro to Bouldering, which is another style of rock climbing but without ropes. The wall is not as high and crash pad are laid out to support climbers. It was not easy doing Bouldering as this style emphasizes more on power and strength. 

Overall, a rather enjoyable experience amidst some fears.  Glad I had the guts to go thru.  

We were given a membership identification access card which enables us to enter the gym anytime.  Entrance fee and equipment fee still need to be paid at each climb.  Not too sure when will be my next trip here though...hmmm.  And oh ya...we got a Certificate for completing the training..sweetttttt.

Next activity planned...Paintball!!