Anyone into rock climbing?

[Molly]

I'd like to get into rock climbing, so I'm very interested to hear other's experiences. I've only done it once indoors when we were vacationing in Colorado, but I loved it. There's an indoor one going up about a mile from my house, so I'll definitely be checking that out. Hopefully it's a good one that I'll want to keep doing!

Hubby and I are also looking into learning outdoor climbing. There's a state park called Devil's Lake about 3 hours away from us that is pretty popular- Devil's Lake . So, we might be going there for one of our vacations this summer.

[RobertCheeke]

I really enjoy it but don't do it very often. I am kinda scared of heights but I climbed out at Smith Rock in Bend, Oregon, which I think is known throughout the world as an awesome destination. I did ok and I just wore my vegan running shoes, didn't even use climbing shoes, had to rely on upper body strength.

Climbing is awesome and builds up some amazing strength. Have a lot of fun at Devil's Lake if you go!

All the best,

Robert

[Molly]

Wow, Keegan, that's a big feat if you're scared of heights!

If and when I do go to Devil's Lake, I'll make sure to get some pictures and post them.

[RobertCheeke]

Cool, please do.

I have some rock-climbing friends and one is a guy who always arm wrestles me. He's non-vegan and we tease each other a bit. We've tied a few times and I won all the other times.

He has climbing holds in his house and he challenged me to a pull-up contest. I thought he'd win because of his grip strength and general arm and back and technique strength, but I beat him again. Now he wears around a Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness t-shirt and supports our lifestyle

He was even a guy who was in the audience as we previewed our movie Vegan Fitness - Built Naturally and helped give feedback before we released it a couple weeks ago.

I hope to get back into climbing again, it was so much fun, and great to get over that fear. I was so scared I couldn't speak or move for quite a while, but so much fun too!

-Rob

[Molly]

It sounds like your friend may have some veg potential in him!

Btw, I can't wait till I get my dvd!!

[takecharge]

ive only tried it sans-that rope connection thing a couple occasions at an indoor one. its a pretty fun experience, just make sure you bring band-aids, ouch. at the end of the day, if you complete just one wall you feel really accomplished, though. its rad. from a strictly female perspective don't do it if you're having "lady time." i thought id be fine, but it drained me of all my energy and i couldn't enjoy it as much at all. i also got careless and thusly ended up scarping my hands pretty bad. blehh. definetly plan out a little before you go and try and move as fast as you can, that's my tactic. i dont have a large amount of arm strength, but as long as you go fast and don't hang on for too long, you can definetly get walls done in no time!

hope that helped!

[dublin dave]

Hi folks,
i've been climbing for 18 months now and I love it.
I love being in the outdoors and having the challenge of climbing a rockface. I'm training a lot at the moment with the aim of getting my trad lead climbing grade up from VS (Very Severe) to E1 (Extreme 1) by June. Indoors I can toprope 6c (French grading system) and i'm hoping to lead 6a soon. I nearly managed it today.
I'm hoping to do some multi pitch mountain routes this summer.
Respect,
Dave.
I'm currently researching various vegan rock boots. I'll be posting a list of suppliers soon. If u know any US brands post me a message.

[takecharge]

arent most rock climbing books vegan?
i'm not sure, whenever i see them they tend to just look like normal fabric for the top, some sort of elastic stuff for the "laces" to hold the foot in and a rubber bottom.

if you find some be sure to tell me though, cause i mihgt be interested in buying some.

[Molly]

I found the following styles on Zappos-

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/5400181/c/3053.html
http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/5999647/c/422.html

Unfortunately, all of the other styles were leather.

[Peggy Lee]

Hello,
I have done both indoor and outdoor and love them both. Well, I’ve only gone out door once but I hope to be able to go again this year. I think everyone should go climb all the time. It’s one of the few times that no matter how you feel before you climb you always leave feeling awesome. I got my climbing shoes year and years ago before I went vegan and they seem to be fine and I can always get the sole redone if need be but it would be nice to find a good quality vegan shoe. Try
http://www.darwin2k.com/chris/climbing/veg.shoes.html

[dublin dave]

arent most rock climbing books vegan?

Unfortunately most rock boots in England have a leather upper.