Family Rock Climbing Lessons

Good-bye, sweet Cabin, hello uncomfortable rock climbing shoes! Oh, yes, we have a new sport. We gathered a bit of gear (major understatement of course) and now we are all set to use the to rock climbing routes all over Ouray. Tim made friends with a local guide who offered to take our family out for our first official family lesson. So, last Friday we yanked the kids out of bed and headed to the Rotery rock park to get trained on safety for both adult and kid climbing. Our guide was adorable and looked a lot like Matt Damon. His real name is the amazing Chris Jackson, but that is beside the point. The kids loved Matt Damon. Thy especially loved when he would free climb up the rock beside them and save them when they got stuck. I think we have some Good Will Hunting swooners in the future.

We started my laying out the gear and learning about the set up and all the communication between climbers and belayers. Tim started the day by completing his first lead climb, which means he was clipping in to the rock ever 5 feet or so and then at the top he had to do some crazy fancy roping to stay safe and not kill the test of us when we used the rope he clipped up to do the next several climbs. He was awesome at this! No falls, and all his research on rope tying and securing paid off. Very proud of him. He will be the leader for our family, so if we ever eat to us this gear again, it was pretty important that he learn all of this.

Next was the kids. The first route up the rock didn't go great. Kenna, who we usually have to pull off the rope and remind her that she is not tied in, would barely climb at first. Quinn had a good first run with Matt Damon helping her choose her footing. But then they were done! Oh, no. They wanted to pick flowers and go home. When there was about 45 minutes left in the day, i did what any respectable woman would do. I knew that when we got home, they will ask to go climbing. Ink we that if they didn't try again, they might whine when we got again. So I bribed them with ice cream to try again. Worked like a charm. They loved it and begged to keep climbing over and over again. We have climbers! And it only cost me one scoop divided into two cups.

My climbs were awesome, too. I had a great time. Matt Damon taught me a a lot about taking all steps to not wear out my arms. I really enjoyed it. There are crazy scary parts -- like when there is a boulder on your belly and you have climb around or just the general coming down and feeling like you'll probably die but hoping you won't.

It was a great day, and I got to the hot springs ASAP to rest my tired arms -- found my good friend Melissa already there with her girls. They had been hoping we'd show. What a great feeling?! Right?!

Love Ouray, the beauty, the activities, and the people.