Vertical Playground

Jan. 3, 2007

Age is timeless at the climbing wall at GT Rocks. It’s a vertical playground built for climbers of all ages and all skills levels, where climbers exchange greetings and encouragement as if they all were ageless peers. The ambience is that of the ‘Cheers’ tavern, a neighborhood place where everybody knows your name.
A division of TBAYS (Traverse Bay Area Youth Soccer), located on Hughes, just East of Garfield and Hammond in Traverse City, GT Rocks is a convenient, affordable gym offering a mental and physical workout for the whole family.
The reasons climbers come to the GT Rocks wall are as varied as the rainbow of colored tape marking different climbing routes. Some come to keep their body and mind in shape for rock climbing on warm weather adventures; some to keep busy while their sibling plays on the soccer court; some for a family fun-night; some as a birthday party special event; and some for the good feeling of being around a like-minded community.
“The climbing wall is a great place to entertain kids,” Larry Allen, 45, says emphatically. “We brought our niece and nephew here when they visited us last Christmas. They loved it! We did too. Now we’re regulars every Monday night.”

WALL PHILOSOPHER
“GT Rocks provides an environment to meet people and to challenge yourself in new and interesting ways,” muses Dan Kaschel, 20, a long-time climber at GT Rocks, and wall philosopher. He says climbing is a pleasure, “because you challenge yourself, and because you make yourself a better person. It teaches you to depend on yourself and your own strengths. It tells you which strengths you have and which ones you really don’t have. You can apply that to real life. Climbing is a metaphorical experience; everything you do here is an extension of everyday life. It teaches you to really trust your skill and to trust yourself in ways that you haven’t before.”

“One of the great things about climbing is that it’s not just physical. The mind is drawn in, charting moves, watching safety, and emotion. Precise gymnastic on such a wild, vertical dance floor is a dialogue with fear, the deepest of all emotions.
“Climbing can integrate body, mind and emotions. That makes it a powerful meditation, a physical meditation.”
-- Doug Robinson, Moving Over Stone

The wall resembles a 30-by-120-foot concrete peg-board, with a variety of formed holds fastened securely with thick bolts. Volunteer supervisors periodically rearrange the holds to form varying levels of challenging “routes.” A visitor can climb the wall in any sequence they choose, but some choose to challenge themselves by following a route of holds pre-marked with a specific color of tape.
The routes are marked with creative names such as “Ground Control to Major Tim” (a nod to Tim Barrons, co-founder of the GT Rocks wall) and “Barbie’s Nightmare” (a route marked with hot pink tape), as well as a numerical rating of difficulty. A 5.7 route would be satisfying for beginners. Routes rated at 5.8 and 5.9 are fun for advancing climbers. Routes of 5.10 and 5.11 keep experienced climbers perfecting their techniques.
SAFETY FIRST
Although many people think of climbing as a dangerous sport, wall climbing has so many safety features that the biggest risk of injury is scraped knees or elbows from close encounters with the wall substrate. Every participant must wear a climbing harness, a configuration of seatbelt webbing that encircles the waist and thighs. The harness attaches to a belay device to halt descent should the climber lose hold of the wall. A trained belayer stands on the ground, maintaining the climber’s rope. Participants can also choose to use one of GT Rocks’ four spring-loaded auto-belay devices. Eight inches of foam padding along the length of the wall assures a soft landing.
Kent McNeil, 18, frequent climber at GT Rocks, tells how he began climbing in trees. “I figured I’d center my interest in something more reasonable, something with ropes for safety. The wall is good training for when I climb rock outdoors. I work on moves and endurance. I practice certain types of moves where you have to use your arms more, and some where you have to work on foot placement and hand placement. I keep coming back because climbing challenges me to get better and better.”
The air at GT Rocks is filled with the fragrance of fresh popcorn from the soccer concession stand, the slapping of the belayer’s rope puddling on the floor, and the positive words of climbers encouraging other climbers.
A newcomer watching seasoned climber Courtney Burnmeister says with awe, “You have to have a lot of arm strength to do that route.” Then another climber beside her explains, “Watch what her legs are doing. Her arms are just holding her in place. Her legs are what’s moving her up the route.” Paige’s “I don’t think I could do that” is answered with a chorus of, “Yes, you could!”
When Burnmeister descends from her climb, she sums up the climbing experience; “It makes me feel good to achieve something that I never thought I could do.”

SOME COACHING
As the newcomer attempts her first ascent, an impromptu assembly of climbers offers friendly coaching:
“Get your feet up higher first.”
“Look at how good you are.”
“Bring your feet up a little more before you put your arms up any higher.”
“You’re doing great!”
“Nice!”
“Alright - - you made it!!”
“Now lean back and grab the rope in front of you. Stick your feet out and walk down backwards.”
The newcomer drops onto the thick mats of terra firma with a huge grin of accomplishment. “That was great! I’m afraid of heights. I’m glad that I finished it and made it all the way up. It felt good to hear my friends down here cheering for me. I’ll come back.”
“It’s pretty fun up there on the wall,” admits Allie Pfeuffer, 16, describing her first climb to the rafters. “It felt high, but exciting. People cheering from the bottom kept me going. They helped me keep on making it up there. GT Rocks is really nice because they have a lot of options, a lot of different ability levels. I would like to come back to try going to the next level.”
Many play climbing games to enhance interest and add fun to their workout. Games on a vertical playground can ‘level the playing field’ between generations and create a friendly atmosphere of competition.
“‘Add On’ is a game where one climber starts out with two handholds, one left and one right,” explains Dan Kaschel. “The next climber then starts from those two holds and adds on the next two moves - left and then right, and so on. Players keep adding on moves until they can no longer follow the route. The last one climbing wins. There’s lots of variations of climbing games. We have a whole list of games on the wall here.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
“I really didn’t know what to expect after going to climbing gyms in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids,” says Charles Hubbell, 30, a first-time visitor to GT Rocks. “I’m impressed by the substrate they used here. This is put together with a lot of organization. When I saw what this wall was made of, and the consistency and the pitches, I was very impressed.”
Charles’ girlfriend came with him to check out GT Rocks’ wall. “I like it here. I’ve been at other walls, like at Marquette, which have just a hard section and a section that’s flat. It’s only a fraction of this size. This is set up professionally.”
“We’re for sure going to come back here,” says Charles. “This is something we definitely want to support to keep around. This wall offers an education in outdoor sports. Young kids get a chance to see what climbing is like, because we don’t have a lot of rock in this area to climb.”
Charles nods his head towards an energetic eight-year-old as he explains the value of a local climbing gym. “With a place like this, youngsters gain exposure to other sports. It’s better than sitting home, playing video games and watching TV. It’s another form of exercise, other than just school sports. I think kids benefit from a local climbing wall the most because they can’t drive to distant climbing areas. They’re kind of limited by their parents’ schedules, so they can come here and have fun at a climbing gym like this.”
One can try the sport of climbing without a major outlay of money. Equipment for a workout at the wall is very basic: mandatory harnesses are provided with the admission fee (less than the price of a movie ticket). If someone wishes to wear high friction shoes designed for the sport, those are available for a small rental fee; but general athletic shoes will work also. Volunteer staff provide introductory safety lessons. That’s all it takes to get started.

Check out
GT-Rock.com for information on hours and rates.




Climber Talk

It is important for climbers to understand climbing lingo, especially the communication commands between a climber and his belayer, the person handling the rope to catch the climber should he fall.

“On Belay” - Once a climber has checked that the climber’s and the belayer’s harness straps are double-backed, the climber’s connecting hardware is locked and the climber’s knot is correctly tied, the climber says, “On Belay.”

“Belay is On” – Once the belayer has checked that the climber’s and the belayer’s harness straps are double-backed, the climber’s connecting hardware is locked and the climber’s knot is securely tied, the belayer replies, “Belay is On.”

“Climbing” – When the climber is ready to begin climbing, the climber says, “Climbing.”

“Climb On” – When the belayer is ready to catch a fall, the belayer says, “Climb On.”