Went to a climbing wall this afternoon after church. I've never been climbing before. The plan was that I'd just "boulder", a term which meant nothing to me, but apparently means not using ropes and stuff, doing low easier climbs. In the end though we did go down to the walls with ropes and stuff and I put on a harness and had a go. There were some kids undergoing tuition so we couldn't use the beginner walls at first, so I tried climbing, I got a few feet up and was then kind of hanging there. I was kind of confused as to what to do then, since I'd somehow managed to get myself into a position where I couldn't move any limbs without falling. Something told me that wasn't exactly what you're meant to do. I could kind of move a hand slightly, possibly reach a new hand-hold, but my hands had got all sweaty and I couldn't move my hand enought to reach into the chalk bag that was behind me, so I just hung there, with my hands getting more and more slippy. What is one to do in this situation? Well, fall off, obviously and rely on the person belaying you, in my case Phil. Poor old Phil, I tried several times and just ended up swinging from a rope with him supporting my rather hefty mass. A little later I tried climbing up a different route on the wall, this wasn't much better. I got even less far up before falling down. However, eventually the kids left and I made it to the top of the wall. My triumph and achievement is in no way hampered by the fact that it was a beginners climb, I am a beginner, I don't care, I got to the top of that wall without falling off. Then came a moment of confusion, how are you supposed to get down? I'd not really had this problem before, gravity aiding me somewhat, you fall off, Phil holds the rope taut so I dangle, then lowers me to the ground, but something told me that that wasn't the correct method of descent. So I'm now at the top of the wall wondering what to do, I'm told to lean back, okay, leaning back, a fairly easy maneouvre, how hard can that be? Well, I manage to mess it up and kind of fall sideways, swinging along the wall, eventually manage to get feet back onto wall and kind of push down wall in rather odd fashion. Perhaps this should have been enough, but I decided that the chimney looked quite fun and I'd have a go at that. I've decided that that's much more my kind of climbing, the other climbing hurt my hands quite a lot, in the chimney I just wedged myself in and used my feet and back to kind of wiggle up it, my hands didn't do very much at all, at one point I had a prolonged rest wedged in it, letting go completely with my hands so that I could chalk them comfortably. I didn't go right to the top though, as I was getting out of the kind of chimney bit I got cramp, that put an end to my day's climbing.

So, I have climbed. Would I do it again? After a day of much falling, making an idiot out of myself, making my hands fairly red and my arms sore? Yes, I think I would, 'cos despite the fact that I was completley useless at it I still had fun. So that's good. I'm not saying I'd take it up as a sport, nor that I'd be bothered if I never went again, just that I would be quite happy to have a go at it again some time. I never did have a go at belaying anyone, so that might be cool.