Climb an Indoor Rock Wall

“It was a thought that occurred to me as I clung to an indoor climbing wall recently, muscles shaking with the strain and unable to move my arm to the next handhold. I wasn't sure whether I'd mentally frozen or I was physically incapable, but either way, I came to a grinding halt. I was mid-way on the wall but might as well be at the top because I can’t just lower myself back down. "Can I come down now, please," I squeak in the direction of the instructor below me. My climbing buddy, overseen by the instructor, released the rope and I began my descent. Thankfully, it's not long before I am back on terra firma. I am exhausted, my hands are red, my arms feel numb, and there is still over an hour of the introductory session to go.”

“The first time I went to a rock climbing gym as an adult, I felt like a visitor from another planet. As I watched the instructor—who was teaching me and a group of other fitness editors proper rope technique—tie a complicated knot and loop it around their harness in one effortless motion, I was acutely aware that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. The one thing I assumed I could figure out was how to put on my harness—after all, you step into it like a pair of pants—but it turned out I was wearing it backward, which I didn’t realize until a different instructor noticed and gently pointed out my error. Any excitement I felt about trying a new sport was completely overshadowed by the fact that I was clearly and totally unprepared for a situation that seemed very risky.”