Spider Woman

One of the regular guys at my gym is always trying to talk me into going to his climbing gym. I've always thought it would be something I'd love to try and would be halfway decent at. Unfortunately, his gym is in Everett and while that's not far as the crow flies, is a total pita for me to get to.

But while on Family Cruise on RCL's Liberty of the Seas, I got to give it a whirl. There are 11 routes up the wall - I chose the easiest given it was my first time. After signing my life away and getting fitted for a harness, helmet and shoes, I headed for the wall. It's located on the aft deck about 13 stories above the water. Throw in another 4 stories of climbing and it feels pretty high up there. At one point about half way up, I stopped to look around (including down - really bad idea) and felt my stomach do flip-flops. I've never had any problem with heights before but clinging like Spider Woman to that wall but a whole new spin on things. My hands got pretty sweaty - not sure if it was from being nervous about being beat up to the top by my sister, the heat or fear of falling. Once I did slip and swung out, I realized I wasn't going to die and it became a whole lot easier.

So I'm thinking next winter I may spend more time indoors at the climbing gym. Fun stuff and a great workout.