Climbing isn’t about pulling yourself and stepping on toe holds as you go. Sometimes there are no toe holds to step on. And sometimes, there are no handholds. We use various techniques to move across, under, or up a wall. When we started climbing, we were on beginner problems that resembled ladders. How do you climb a step ladder? The movement begins in your hip, you raise your leg, you step onto the next step. Your hands follow. An extension ladder, same thing. And it is this way with climbing. Sometimes, we cannot reach a handhold if we are in the mindset of reach with hand, follow with foot. To reach it, we may have to do something like launch upward (or sideways) using the power of one leg or both, and then ‘land’ with one or both hands. The legs are the drivers, the arms support the movement.
Climb with us?
We climb nearly every Sunday afternoon. Active (and sometimes inactive) members get a text with the location of the next week’s climb (at one of the KC area climbing gyms). If you are already a climber, contact Mark Lamendola at [email protected] to sign up for those text notices. If you want to start climbing, contact an area gym like Ibex, Rendezvous, RoKC, or Sequence for a beginner class.
