Climbing 101

The Scottish climber may be party to some peerless experiences amid soaring landscapes, but it can be easy for those outside the sport’s bubble to feel intimidated – most of us aren’t equipped to scale a cliff face with just our fingertips and some old rope standing between us and plunging into the abyss, right? And does no-one remember 127 Hours?? In a bid to refute this idea, our Sports Supplement editor Kate dragged me along to Ratho one Thursday night to try some indoor climbing. *Spoiler alert* It turns out to be both fun and possible.

The Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA) opened in Ratho in 2003 as the world’s largest indoor climbing arena. That crown has since been stolen as the world has gone climbing wall crazy (there’s even an Alice in Wonderland themed one in, you guessed it, Japan), but EICA is still a world class facility that sits just outside the city, is easily accessible, and offers introductory classes for beginners as well as improver courses for folk with a bit of experience. It also, of course, offers the opportunity to climb loads of enormous, terrifying walls, instructor-free for those deemed knowledgeable enough.

Entry level climbing may at first seem intimidating, but the process of getting involved is actually pretty straightforward. I was signed in, hired some shoes and a harness and was good to start scaling vertical surfaces. As my previous experience boiled down to a couple of hours at Alien Rock around 2007, and climbing a 30 metre ladder in the jungle in 2006, I should stress that I was with qualified outdoorsy people, which is how I was able to bypass a class. Normal procedure is: wannabe climbers should take a three hour start-up class to learn about safety, knot tying, belaying, abseiling and much more. I was also allowed to break the first rule of Climb Club by being exempt from belaying (essentially, rope holding) for anyone on the wall, mainly because no-one trusted me with their lives. I’m going to put that down to my experience level, rather than my character.

After some technical training on harnesses, knots and wall etiquette, I was (extremely nervously) unleashed. The first ascent was fairly nerve-wracking – while my rational brain may have had the utmost trust in the equipment and climbing coach, my body had other ideas. Involuntary leg shaking kicked in towards the top and there were moments where the only thing standing between me and blind panic was controlled breathing. Apparently this is perfectly natural though, and I’m told I bossed it. Yeah, that’s right, bossed it.

Taking this to mean I was a skilled natural, I went on to scale a few more vertical surfaces and even tackled an overhang. While I mainly failed at the overhang, and cheated slightly by going for a rainbow climb (*technical term) in tricky bits rather than adhering to the routes, my nerves abated pretty quickly, and by the end of the evening I could see how I might, maybe, if I came a couple more times, be able to climb without freaking out at all. As a whole, the experience was exhilarating, challenging, and – for an urban dweller – the most efficient release from work stress I’ve ever encountered. Nothing like clinging onto a cliff face by your fingertips to make you forget about that petty office drama.

That’s just the experience on the indoor wall – imagine what it’s like getting to the outdoor climbing once you’ve honed your skills. Better get practising.