Rope Tricks – Sportrock Climbing Centers

There’s an old adage, “If you can’t tie a knot just tie a lot”. You can be certain that was not coined by a rock climber.

Sportrock Climbing Center in Alexandria, VA offers a basic climbing course for beginners to get familiar with climbing safety equipment and the gym.

Sportrock holds the basics course several times a day. It’s two hours long so we opted for the 1:30 on Sunday, after we met for a light lunch. We didn’t have any idea of how strenuous the course would be so we wanted to be fueled up. It turns out it’s not at all strenuous but it never hurts to be safe.

We all drove separately for some reason and while it wasn’t an issue the gym is popular and parking assigned for the gym is limited. The gym is in a commercial section of warehouses and the space between the buildings isn’t designed for a lot of parking. Still, it wasn’t a problem this time and Lisa, Patricia and I met Wendie and John right on time in the parking lot.

When you walk in to the gym you can see just how big and well designed the climbing areas are. The reception area is split with touch-pads on the right to complete the standard “gravity kills” waiver and the left counter where you sign in and get shoes. You can watch the fall-to-your-death video online prior to the class and sign the waiver electronically to save about 5 minutes. Lisa and I had done that. We had found a deal on Living Social that got us the class for less than half-price and it was easy to arrange. Wendie was our welcome walk-on this week so she got stuck paying full price but as always she was a good sport.

Shoes are included and uncomfortable by design. They are specific for climbing, no other shoes allowed and for good reason. It’s challenging enough with the right equipment. Once in the shoes your toes should be immobile and angry about it and mine were. They’re also heavily sprayed with Lysol which is good for disinfection but bad because they’re soggy and smell like Lysol. But once your toes are crammed in there it’s the least of your concerns.

The gym provides an alcove filled with cubby holes to stash your shoes and various non-climbing sundries. We all crammed our stuff into one to be polite but there were plenty open if our stuff wanted some time apart.

Because there were five of us the class was much larger than the gym had expected. They were going to try to take 2 of us out of the class but then master negotiator Lisa stepped in and in thirty seconds had things straightened out. To be fair, the size of the class probably limited the number of times we got to climb the wall in the end but we could have stayed and climbed all day if we wanted to. I’ll elaborate on that later.

Our Meg this week was a young thin guy who was strong and as cool as one would expect a climber to be. Nice dude. Very much the master of his environment and patient for a young man dealing with older people who don’t like to tie knots.

We all picked out our basic harnesses and helmets (which were unnecessary but I like hats) and learned a bit about the parts. We could tell how to strap in, how to look at a partner and see the proper amount of “C’s” meaning the buckles were secure and visible and we learned to pull the tail end of the buckle on the waist belt through to lock it in place. We learned about the belay loop, tie-in loop, and gear loop, cross piece and whatever other names I immediately forgot. Meg was great about telling us he didn’t care if we knew the names just as long as we knew how to use it right.

We got a short lesson on locking karabiners and why it’s important to make sure they are locked. Locking the biner increases the weight rating exponentially. A locked biner could support a few Andre the Giants (Fezzik from “The Princess Bride”) where as an unlocked biner might support a medium sized dog. I’m much closer to the weight of the late Mr. The Giant than I am to the dog so I paid attention.

On our biner was a belay device. This rather simple piece of metal is what prevents a falling climber from falling too fast. It’s difficult to describe but the size and shape is such that if you had one for some reason and found yourself unprepared at a costume ball you could put it over your nose and make people think you at least tried to come as a pig. Of course, there’s a loop to attach the thing to your rig that would make it hard to wear but suffice it to say it’s squarish with two large slots. Now that we knew the equipment it was time to learn the ropes.

We were in pairs and each of us had an end to a rope that was looped over a bar at the top of the wall. Meg first told us how to measure the rope so we would have enough to tie the knots we needed to tie. The rule of thumb is to grip the rope about ten inches from the end and then stretch that arm out and measure the rope from the opposite shoulder. So for a right handed person the left hand is holding the rope to the left shoulder while the right hand that is ten inches from the end of the rope is extended. The point is to have at least four feet of rope to play with.

At the point where the rope was measured (left hand) we bent the rope so a loop was formed and then wrapped the rope around our hand and fed the end through the loop. The end result should be a figure eight at the four (or more) foot point. It’s simple enough to do but also easy to do wrong. Luckily it’s easy to see when it’s right or wrong. Once we had the technique figured out (again, Meg was infinitely patient with the large group of knot haters) we heard what we’d hear often over the next two hours, “Now do it three times right in a row and we’ll move on”.

Moving on we were instructed how to feed the rope through the leg cross piece and tie in loop. You feed it in from the bottom and pull it up as far as you can. The figure eight should not be able to pass through the lower cross piece. Now it was time to learn how to secure that knot.

Meg assured us earlier that what we were doing would start to make sense and this is where it started coming together for me, literally. The next step is to create a double figure eight by feeding the end of the rope back through the single figure eight. It sounds simple but it’s knot. (I promise I’ll only use that joke once). Finding and following the correct part of the rope through each turn in the knot was challenging. We all got it wrong at least once before we started to get the hang of it. The trick is seeing two ropes in each part of the knot. Finally we had it and could tell at a glance when it was right. So we untied and had to do it right three times in a row to continue.

The next knot demonstrated why we needed so much rope. The stopper knot is a double overhand and similar to a lasso or honda knot, just not as many loops. Meg asked if any of us had used a lasso and I said I had back in my horse days, and he asked how I tied the knot. I told him I bought a lasso already tied but once I saw what he was getting at I got the point. The stopper knot is one of the quintessential rabbit and tree knots. The rabbit goes around the tree twice and then in its hole. It’s another easy knot to get wrong but Meg explained it’s easy to see when it’s right. It’s the “equals equals X” that tells you it’s right. The knot will have two ropes on one side looking like an equals sign. Two ropes lead from the knot to the double figure eight which is the other equals sign. Then flipping the knot over there will be two ropes crossed that form the X.

We did this three times right (I did a few more because this one challenged me) and then we were all instructed to untie completely and do the entire series over and over until we had it perfect. The groans echoed off the fake stone walls in the gym. I will admit I expected to have forgotten the early steps but the technique of doing each step in the assembly before putting it all together works.

Finally, we were done with knots for the time being and it was time to get familiar with belaying. Meg said it’s the least favorite thing of most classes but I suspect it’s only due to the harness finally being put to work. He explained and demonstrated how to use the belay device. He said the purpose of the two slots is so right handed people can use the slot on the right and left handed people use the one on the left. Patricia is our only leftie but I saw she used the right hand side so I’m not sure how much difference it makes.

Belaying is the most important part of climbing to learn. When a climber is on belay (climbing) the person on the ground using the device is responsible for the climber’s life. It’s easy to set up the rig incorrectly and I saw a few ropes pull out of the device the first time it was tried. Luckily no one was climbing. Ultimately the climber must also check the rig before climbing and be satisfied it’s correct.

The device is on a locking karabiner that we had attached to our gear loop. We took the rope, pinched it into a loop and fed the loop through one side of the device. Then the loop goes through the biner. This is where ropes were pulling out when people forgot that part. At that point the biner is locked. It’s vitally important that the rope coming through the top of the device it going to the climber. The bottom rope is used to as the brake, to stop the rope from feeding through but if they cross anywhere it will rub and wear the rope out which could be catastrophic. It’s a clever device and surprisingly effective. Simply by pulling the bottom of the rope straight down it stops the rope. Any amount of weight can be supported that way, it seems. I was catching on and demonstrated the concept for Patricia using her rig and hoisted up on her harness a bit harder than she expected. I was reminded a gentleman does not hoist up on anything connected to a ladies nether region without expressed permission. I was properly admonished and offered my sincere apologies. It’s still a neat piece of equipment. The belay device, that is.

The next exercise was to get the technique correct. In order to remove the slack for a climber one pulls the lower rope up and immediately pulls the hand back down below the device. Then the opposite hand pulls the slack out which will hold the climber at that spot if they fall. This way the rope is “unlocked” for the least amount of time. We all practiced this technique with opposite ends of the rope going back and forth. I have to say at this point the team was looking a bit bored with the whole thing. Everyone was a tired and standing there for 2 hours was tedious but I happen to like gadgets and gear and I knew lives depended on getting this right. In spite of the tedium the team learned well when it came time to put it in practice.

Now it was time to get a feel for supporting someone’s body weight and exactly what it means to remove all slack. Patricia and I decided I would belay her first which was simply a matter of her leaning back and my lowering her to the ground slowly enough to prevent injury. I should point out that the floor by the walls is incredibly squishy and well-padded so a fall from a lower height would probably not result in an injury.

I took out the slack as I saw fit and Meg pointed out that I had way too much slack and Patricia would certainly slam into the squishy ground. Essentially he said I should jump a little and hoist on the rope and lock it down to get all the slack out for the exercise. When I did that I understood the importance of having the harness properly sized and positioned. Luckily mine was but I could feel her body weight pulling on the harness. Suffice to say we were equally uncomfortable but safe.

So we all did this wrong the first time. Patricia leaned back and I was able to hold her but I didn’t belay fast enough before she was swinging to the side. The next few times I did better and it ended up being easier to belay someone on the wall than one leaning back on the floor. We went back and forth a few times and I could tell this would require a bit more strength than I first thought. Feeding the rope through requires keeping a good grip on the rope and various injuries have reduced my grip strength. Not to the point where I’d worry but it was more fatiguing.

Because we had an odd number Patricia and John switched places so he and I could lower each other down and get familiar with the sensation.

Now it was time to put our new skills to the test. Meg asked for brave souls to climb first and I was willing but luckily Wendie beat me to it. We were told to tie our knots, where to belay and to have a third person as a belay backup. Essentially just ready to grab the rope if the belay person didn’t. We formed a line to take over each position after one of us climbed and I was near the end of the line.

Wendie took a challenging route that had at least one large gap but her long legs and powerful body managed to get past that. Once she was ready to come down it was just a matter of Lisa lowering her. I failed to mention earlier that there are anchor points on the floor for anyone who is lighter than the climber they’re supporting. Meg explained exactly where the anchor rope should go outside of your leg to prevent injury to the person belaying.

I belayed for Patricia and she looked powerful and certain as she went to the top of the wall. It wasn’t tough to keep the slack out but she was probably the fastest up the wall. One foot slipped near the top but she never came off until she wanted to and I was glad to know I had her if she had come off then. When she came down it was no trouble easing her to the ground while she sat in her harness.

Wendie belayed for me and I remembered (as did we all) to check the rigging for each other. She needed to lock her karabiner but otherwise she was spot-on. I didn’t see if she anchored herself to the ground and I should have checked that considering how much I weigh.

After Wendie we all took a less challenging route up the wall but even so I found it tougher than I expected. The rocks to grip were large and stable and made it easy to hold myself to the wall. The rocks to step on were a little smaller and my large feet coupled with unfamiliar shoes made it unsettling. A climber relies on his or her legs to ascend the face or wall and the arms are used primarily to hold him or her to the face or wall. Even with my lack of grip-strength I wasn’t having much trouble holding myself but finding places to put my feet was another story. I found that I needed to move an arm and leg together to be effective because my legs are not limber or long enough to reach and support my weight at the same time. So the climb required some amount of lunging for me. Once I got just over half way I couldn’t see a way for me to get higher without taking a larger leap. My muscles were also getting fatigued and that surprised me. It didn’t feel like that much of a workout but supporting my body weight the entire time does take a toll. I also noticed that looking down the face of the wall was unsettling. It wasn’t high but it seemed higher than it was because of the sheer face. So I decided to come down early. Wendie took great care in easing me down and I found repelling to be great fun. I was also encouraged to see the ropes and harnesses work so next time I may be more bold in taking the leap of faith to get to the next place.

Once we had all had a time on the wall Meg explained that our passes gave us access to the gym all day so as long as we had three person teams (climber, belayer and back-up belayer) we could play all day. There were other classes we could have taken and they have a yoga studio which also holds classes. He explained the path to belay certification which would allow us to come use the gym in teams of two. It’s a matter of taking a test where instructors hurls themselves off the walls without warning and as long as you catch then you’re in. He did say that the best source for brushing up on all these techniques is Youtube rather than the cheat sheets they give out.

We decided to leave since we were all tired thirsty and Delia’s is pretty close with great drinks and Mediterranean lite-bites. It wasn’t that strenuous of a day and we all smelled better than we normally would after one of our outings so we were fine to sit indoors.

I’d always been curious about climbing equipment and this class gave me a good introduction to it. I’ve done a little scrambling and bouldering but nothing that required safety equipment. Lisa and I decided we will do this again and I have three reasons for my decision: 1) I want to get more comfortable with high-angle climbing. I didn’t like feeling unsure and now that I have felt how it is to be caught and lowered down I feel more confident in the equipment. 2) Sylvester Stallone did a rock climbing action movie (Cliffhanger, 1993) and in an interview I heard him say that climbing got his body in the best shape of his life and it looked it. He was 47 when he did the movie and I’m 47 now. 3) It seems I like wearing a harness. It’s utilitarian like a tool belt but it also makes me feel like Batman. It’s good to feel like Batman.

We found the deal on LivingSocial and I’d recommend looking before booking. It was easy and saved a lot of money for the group. The class is worth the price they charge but half price or lower is always better. If you are limber and strong you will do well. If you have good grip strength that is a plus but anyone can do this class and you will feel much more confident if you’re ever in a Die Hard type action movie situation where you have to repel off Nakatomi tower before the roof blows. At least you’ll know how to tie a good knot.