MegèveSki

Thought for the day

Climbing shoes were probably invented simply to make ski boots appear as a comfortable alternative...

Having finished my beginners climbing course at The Castle I went along this evening to sign up as a registered climber, buy some shoes and join in "The Session". Mission accomplished.

The shoes, as recommended by Urban Rock (the shop at The Castle), fit well (i.e. they're damn tight!) and seemed to "work" (i.e. my feet could grip!). After testing some 9s it was suggested that they weren't tight enough so I dropped a half-size, or so I thought, and tried again. These were better, allowing less movement in the foot, it wasn't until I took them off at the end of the evening that I realised that they were in fact an 8, which is half a size smaller than my ski boots and a size smaller than my normal shoes... Still, never mind the stated size, feel the fit...

"The Session" is a great idea. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays there's an instructor on hand who'll run an informal group and you can just turn up and climb. It's great if you don't have a climbing partner and seems to be a good way to meet like-minded souls. This evening there were only three of us, two of us to start with, and my partner was quite a bit better than me, which was good in that she pushed me to climb harder stuff than I'd otherwise have tried. I tried, and almost completed, some 5As but ended up so tired (from bad technique at key points that left me hanging on my arms whilst I tried to work out how to get out of a situation) that the 4Cs we dropped back to were still tough. Plus, of course, the grading of a climb depends on who graded it... Some of the 4Cs we tried tonight were graded by people who must have been far taller than either of us were! (or, perhaps, just people who knew a few more key technique "tricks" that would have made some of the moves easier/possible!) The evening was hard but fun and a great way to get some top rope climbs even if you don't have someone to take along to climb with.