My Fingers Hurt!

One of my favorite lines in any movie (and one of the few movie quotes I remember) is “my fingers hurt” from Happy Gilmore. That’s how I feel today after my second-ever attempt at indoor rock climbing yesterday.

My first attempt was a few years ago, a 2-hour class that mostly focused on climbing safety and knots. My memories of it aren’t great, as I found that I’m not particularly good at knots–I just wanted someone to strap me in and let me climb.

So this time, a bunch of friends went to a local climbing gym as the guests of two friends who are very experienced climbers. In an attempt to avoid the perilous knots, I went in thinking that I would just go “bouldering,” which doesn’t require ropes.

That’s how things started out. Though, I made a mistake right away–the easiest bouldering wall was high in demand, so I started on the intermediate wall, which was angled. My form was terrible, so it was a great workout for my fingers and forearms.

I then decided to give the ropes a try, and my friends made the knots much easier than the previous class. Again, my form was terrible–too many big moves and pulling myself up instead of taking small steps, staying close to the wall, and putting weight on my toes.

Hence why my fingers hurt today!

It’s the good kind of hurt, though–I really had a good time, and I want to figure out this puzzle of climbing. I always find it interesting to encounter something that I need to unlearn or learn for the first time. Climbing definitely fits into those categories for me–I need to work against my instincts.

Also, I’m excited about the upcoming American Ninja Warrior season, and I want to learn how to climb a ladder like the one in the photo on the right. I can do pullups, but reaching up with one arm while putting all my weight on the other is something I currently can’t do.

Have you tried rock climbing? What was your experience?

Leave a Reply

Discover more from jameystegmaier.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue Reading