Go Climb a...Wall!

My love for Living Social and Groupon grows stronger daily!  A couple of weeks ago - thanks to a Groupon - I had the chance to meet my friend Melissa at Climb Upstate in Spartanburg to spend a couple of hours scaling rock walls.

It was SO much fun!

But it was HARD!

What I learned was that I can go quickly up and down the straight up and down walls, but I seriously lack the upper body strength required to take on a wall with any degree of backwards slant.

ANY degree.

I went first; Melissa was great.  She did not let me fall to my doom.  This was a real possibility.  My falling to my doom.  Not her allowing me.

Up at the top!  It was kind of a thrill.  I know that this seems like small accomplishment, but I rather like knowing that if necessary, I could climb a rock wall.

Melissa was up next.  She is a fantastic athlete and I was afraid she would totally show me out.

She did. LOL

Being a good friend, even though her natural athleticism eclipsed my climbing victory, I returned the favor and did not let her fall to her doom, either.

We both decided to try and do a backward flip from the rings; Melissa tried but didn't make it over.  I tried, and expected not to make it over, either, but I somehow managed to get my feet up over my head and flip!  While I was upside down, I hung suspended long enough to fear falling and paralysis and also questioned if I would ever flip back over in either direction.  I felt like I was up there forever.  I did finally get my feet back over my head - flexibility is definitely an attribute I've been gifted, so I think I was successful because I could practically dislocate my shoulders to complete the round out.

Or maybe I'm actually this natural athlete and I just don't know it.

:-)

At any rate, I would definitely recommend heading out to any climbing centers if you have one near you.  They all seem to host birthday parties, so if you have little monkeys at your house, it might be a fun alternative to a bounce house!