The Deep End

I'm going to pretty much disregard my first three times climbing for one reason: I didn't actually learn anything. Those times on the wall were on very easy routes that were a little bit like ladders for me. If anything a bit harder came up in front of me, I just used strength to get around it and I was done. I guess the only thing I could take from those climbs is that I'm not scared of heights and I don't get vertigo. Pretty sweet thing to know if you want to be a climber - but I already know people that climb that don't like heights. It's not a deal breaker, it just makes doing routes a lot more exciting I should imagine.

So, the deep end for me was The Roaches in the Peak District. Rebecca and David both trad, so they're the ones going up first and laying down the anchors while I wait at the bottom and watch. It's ok when you're in a group of people because you can talk while you wait. I didn't realise that climbing was such a social sport until that point, because we were all just chatting away while Rebecca was doing the hard graft. When it was my turn to climb up the gritstone, David suggested I put on a pair of rock shoes. They were his old ones that were "my size" and they're more grippy than the hiking boots I was wearing. I thought that was fair enough, and put his shoes on. And then immediately took them off. For those that don't know, climbing shoes are tight. Apparently some climbers go over 2 sizes smaller than their normal shoe size for some climbs because it gives them better grip. At the time I thought david had bare-faced lied to me about his shoe size and was trying to make himself more manly or something in font of his friends, because he couldn't bring himself to tell me and therefore everyone else that he was actually a girly size 6. It turns out this isn't true, but anyway I just said I'd climb in my hiking boots. And that's what I did. It was an easy climb, there was a top rope so if I fell nothing would happen, and besides I had my hands and that's all I really needed to climb with. So up once, down once, then wait for everyone else to do the climb too. That wasn't what got me hooked though.
I am an amateur photographer and while Rebecca was doing the beginners route top roping, David and some other dudeface decided to do another face of the rock which was a lot harder and more suited to him, Rebecca, and the other climbing buddies that were with them. While I was waiting for my next turn on a different route I grabbed my camera (Nikon D60) and went on a little hike around the back of the rock face so that I could get to the top. From here I hoped to get good shots of the people climbing.
Mostly, when climbers go climbing with their friends, the only shots they get of themselves doing routes are from behind, and below, which means that basically they get a lot of photographs of their asses. I wanted to get some facial shots and movement shots and reaching shots and all manner of other shots, if I could, so I had to get myself in the right position. Because I'm an amateur photographer, doing these extra things isn't a chore for me, it's pretty fun getting a great picture. So anyway, there I was lying down on top of a massive rock outcrop like a military sniper taking shots of the climbers trying to get up this rock face. It was high an really windy and a little bit damp so not ideal for climbing, but if you're at the roaches you for a weekend, you fucking climb. The smoothness of the rock face they were climbing on stunned me. I had no idea this "style" of rock climbing existed. I thought it was all big holds that you can swing out on and hang from like a monkey, not this tiny slither of rock that isn't much wider than a 1p coin holding the full weight of a fully grown man. I got a few shots of the footholds and the handholds they were trying to reach for while trying to get the scope and the height of the rock face in view. That was all before 12am. That's not what got me hooked.

After a spot of lunch (my arms already felt weakened because of the climbing I had done) Rebecca and some other chap wanted to go out and do something called "bouldering" - I was up for anything so I went with them and they taught me what the idea behind bouldering is. I did a few routes in my hiking shoes (to the amazement of them both) but most of the things were just too hard for me because the footholds and handholds were tiny. The chap, let's call him Frank, explained to me that the shoes help a lot because of how you can use them on the rock - That's when I realised that if I wanted to do any "proper" climbing this weekend I had to stick on those David's tiny shoes. His shoes were a size 8, and I'm a size 9, so just imagine getting a normal shoe a size too small and cramming your foot into it so your toes curl up at the knuckles. That's totally normal for a climber to have shoes at least 1 size smaller so I decided, the next day, the Red Chilli's (the rock shoes) shall be worn. I can't really remember what we did for the rest of that day. I think me and Rebecca went shopping or something, but I don't think I did a lot of climbing afterwards.

The whole idea of bouldering is that you do everything any other rock climber would do, but in a very short distance. For instance, the hard route the other climbers were doing while I was taking pictures was really easy at the beginning, but the last bit of the climb was where it got very very difficult to do. If you can imagine exactly the same route on a big-ass boulder about 8ft high, missing out the beginning bit, the hardest part of the climb is lower to the ground and therefore you don't need a rope to do it because if you fall, you'll just land on a nice cushioned bouldering mat. But you still have to do all the technical stuff to complete the climb. Ok, it's not high, but climbers don't climb solely to get high up in the air, otherwise they would just use a ladder. Using your muscles and your fingers and toes and brain and braun to get yourself up something that looks impossible is where the fun lies. And that's where I got hooked, on the boulders. It's so accessible because all you need is shoes, chalk and a crash mat. You can do it alone or with a big group. You can do easy ones or you can do really difficult ones.

During my time in The Roaches I attempted maybe 15 different routes, most of which I didn't complete. But while I was doing them, everyone was watching me and cheering me on and were really, genuinely exited when they saw a novice trying a route. They were cheering me on to grab that next bit of rock that is only an inch away. They were genuinely proud of me for retrying the same thing over and over again and never actually making it. I would watch them hang upside down from holds no deeper than soap dishes while swinging their heels over and pulling up their full body weight to grab a hold a good arms length away above them, or see them slowly go up a vertical rock face using only their toes and fingertips. And the whole time there was talking, laughter, pictures being taken and the spirit of really really good natured competition between the climbers. That's what got me hooked. I drove home after that weekend and maybe two days later got myself some bouldering gear and that week signed up to a bouldering wall in London.

Really, really fucking fun.