Climbing Class

Chris and I had been talking for quite some time about putting Jake and/or Brenden into some sort of extracurricular activity. I was first introduced to mountain climbing in Arizona while I was at school and I fell in love with it the first time I was on the Mountain. It takes an amazing amount of skill, strength, and focus. Since both boys are so active and have always been good climbers, jumpers, and tumblers I thought climbing class might be something they would enjoy and it would be fun to have them take up a sport that I could eventually do with them. It would also give them a chance to take all of that energy and learn how to focus it into a specific activity. So this past January we signed Jake up for ABC at Planet Rock in Ann Arbor.

The ABC stands for Agility, Balance, and Coordination, something that is good for all to work on. We were unable to sign Brenden up for the class because at the time he wasn't toilet trained yet. Needless to say, this provided us with an opportunity to motivate Brenden out of diapers and into underwear, thank goodness! The class is 10 weeks long, meeting once a week for an hour. If you've never been to Planet Rock you should check out their website, the place is amazing! It's the largest indoor climbing gym in the country.

Jake enjoyed the class, but found it a little scary and probably a lot more challenging than expected. I found out my daredevil might be more talk than action. In order to move to ABC II, the kids need to be able to demonstrate their mastery of certain skills including climbing to the top of the "Big Wall". Jake wasn't even close to this at the end of the first session of classes so after a long discussion - "Jake, this class costs a lot of money, are you SURE you want to try it again? etc." Jake decided he wanted to give the class another shot, and this time Brenden could join him!

The boys have done great this time around. They are both still scared at times of the different challenges and of course the "Big Wall", but are trying all of the skills and challenges the instructors ask of them. They have climbed higher up the wall each week and Jake has made it about half way up the big wall. It has been really nice for me to help the boys through these little mile stones. It has allowed me to talk with them about what I do as a coach with my divers and how their teachers are doing the same thing with them. I think they are beginning to understand a little more what it means to be a coach/teacher/instructor. It has also been nice to be connected to climbing again after being away for so long. Jake has even asked if he can climb the mountains the next time we go the Arizona to visit Mana! Hopefully someday we'll be able to do that!