Since my last update I've taken a couple of classes! There was an intro to bouldering class a few weeks ago that was very helpful to fill in some things that I hadn't intuited from my own experience (drop knee! What a concept) and today was my first time trying top rope! It's so wild to me how much higher you can climb when you have a harness and a belayer. I'm usually a little freaked out by heights but having the experience of both climbing and belaying really took the stress out of it. I sent a 5.7 and a 5.8 during the class and also tried some slab climbing for the first time (a 5.9, although I didn't get anywhere near the end haha)
It's a lot of fun! And really surprising how much of the work the belay device does for you. Like if you keep the rope taut and maintain a firm hold on it, you really can hold your climber up forever. In fact, my brother kept insisting that to me as I struggled to figure out how long was okay for me to rest lmao. You obviously can't do that at all while bouldering so it'll definitely take some time to feel out how to manage my stamina. The walls are ludicrously tall
Anyway, I really enjoyed it and it'll be nice to have a bit of variety week to week. I'm undecided which I like more... currently I'm thinking of top rope as a way to work on endurance for bouldering but who knows? I'm very curious about trying lead climbing at some point but not any time soon. Something to work toward!
Highest grades so far: V2, 5.8
