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 | In the grip of madness By Devin Watkins |
I have to admit, it takes a big act of trust on my part to climb precariously thirty feet up a jagged wall with only a thin rope between myself and a long, painful fall to the concrete so very far below. To make matters worse, I am then told to lean back and let go.
But let go I do, whispering a quick and fervent prayer asking that my fellow partner and novice had been paying attention during the beginner lesson and knows how to lower me slowly to the safety below. There are a couple of tense moments when I had to threaten him with physical violence as he experimented with different tensions to increase or decrease the speed of my descent – usually increasing my descent "accidentally" as he learned the ropes, so to speak, with an insolent grin.
Toronto Climbing Academy, located at Queen and Broadview (about a ten minute streetcar ride south from Broadview Station on the 504), offers lessons for beginners at $35.00, which includes day pass, climbing shoes, and harness as well as a one-hour lesson from a staff instructor on the basics of rock climbing and gear maintenance. There are also intermediate lessons for further improvement, advanced lessons for competition, and lead climbing instruction available to more experienced enthusiasts.
When I first approached them about my developing interest in what some consider to be an extreme sport, filled with a vast potential for fatality for thrill seekers, I was promptly told to think about what I was getting into. At first this did nothing to bolster my sense of personal safety in this adventure, but I was soon corrected.
"I am warning you right now. Climbing is addictive. You're going to love it," were the first words I was told by my instructor, Clint, who couldn't keep his enthusiasm from producing a wistful look and a wide boyish grin of delight on his face. And love it I did. After I was given the basic skills and safety drills to climb on my own without instruction I climbed and climbed and climbed. Time disappeared and I was forced to stop only when I couldn't physically close my hands anymore. I could not even untie myself from the rope, I was so blessedly exhausted. It was beyond the boundaries of physical energy, beyond the edge of willful continuation, I was at the point when my body just gave out – even if my passion for climbing was merely beginning to be realized.
I have since confessed to this new obsession with a rueful shrug of acceptance whenever people ask why I have great difficulty holding a pen some mornings after climbing. Having re-visited Toronto Climbing Academy a number of times since, I have found the staff to be consistently helpful, friendly, and always willing to offer advice or assistance. The gym itself is spacious, well-maintained, and offers enough variety of climbs that mastery will be no quick or easy thing. There is always good music playing to compensate for a variety of tastes and they are open from ten in the morning to eleven at night to suit any schedule with an abundance of climbing opportunities.
I then decided to try out a different climbing gym downtown, named Rock Oasis, to see how Toronto Climbing Academy stacks up against the competition.
After climbing at Rock Oasis, located at Bathurst and Front Street (approximately a twenty minute ride south from Bathurst Station on the 511), I quickly realized that climbing is not necessarily always the same where ever you go. The first thing I noticed right away about Rock Oasis was how closely-quartered everyone was. The floor space itself is about less than half of what Toronto Climbing Academy used for their gym. The second observation that struck me immediately was how many actual ropes were strung up to allow for more climbs at once. There were at least two, if not three, times as many ropes and climbers going at once than Toronto Climbing Academy had on its busiest days. This resulted in a lot of climbers in a very small space.
There was so many ropes that they had to install benches for the belayers to sit on, with the grigri between their legs, because there would not have been enough physical floor space for the belayers to stand together or to bolt the grigri into the floor (which is the method used by Toronto Climbing Academy). Rock Oasis is a much more busy gym than Toronto Climbing Academy so the safety risk this layout posed was substantial enough.
As I was strapping on my harness, I watched a climber fall from a 5.12 and swing out of control across the lines of three other climbers desperately trying to stay out of his way as he made mad grabs for the wall and their lines in an effort to not get tangled up with their ropes. On the wall myself I ran into a situation where a fellow climber was close next to me, but about three holds higher, and lost control. As he swung off the wall almost above and beside me I had to quickly extend and lower my body to avoid the on-coming collision until he was able to grab the wall once more and be lowered down.
But aside from having to watch your back to avoid becoming part of a human domino chain forty feet off the ground, the staff was extremely safety oriented and the climbing was very good. Upon arrival I had to demonstrate my skills in a basic test to ensure to them that I would know what I was doing on the walls. Beginner lessons at Rock Oasis run at $29.00 for the same foundation instruction that Toronto Climbing Academy offers for $35.00. Monthly membership for Rock Oasis is also much cheaper, running at $33.00 (after the initiation and beginner lesson fees have been paid for), as opposed to Toronto Climbing Academy's $40.00 per month (after a $49.00 initiation fee). So, you are then looking at a Toronto Climbing Academy first month rate of $124.00 for beginner lesson, initiation fee, and one month membership. Rock Oasis, on the other hand, charges a much cheaper rate of $99.00 for the beginner lesson, initiation fee, and one month membership combined.
The staff at Rock Oasis was very diligent in making it clear that safety is their top priority. They were always walking around keeping an eye on the climbers and would not think twice about pulling down a dangerous individual off the wall if it was obvious they were a risk to the safety of others. There were also foot-thick high school gym mats across the entire climbing floor so that if anyone did fall the damage would be lessened by a soft landing on a spongy surface.
Where Rock Oasis really makes up for the crammed quarters is in the climbs themselves. Where Toronto Climbing Academy had its highest walls at thirty to forty feet, Rock Oasis boasts a tough sixty feet for climbers to try their muscle against. I am telling you right now that climbing sixty feet does not sound very high compared to real rock faces, but by the time you get to the top it becomes quite a workout. This was the real difference between the two gyms: Rock Oasis had much more demanding climbs, both technically and physically. I felt there was more of an opportunity to improve my skills to a higher level with the more hardcore climbs at Rock Oasis than Toronto Climbing Academy.
The bottom line comes down to better climbing at Rock Oasis, but a more spacious and safe atmosphere at Toronto Climbing Academy. Rock Oasis has the better rates going for them, but they are also crowded and busy to reflect this as lineups will sometimes occur for walls. Both gyms have similar facilities in terms of lockers, free weights, equipment rentals and accessibility as well as both featuring a wide variety of clientele – from athletes, to couples on dates, to families, to businessmen – and an equal balance of men and women enjoying this wonderful sport.
It comes down to this: I was glad I had my beginner lesson at Toronto Climbing Academy where I felt safe and comfortable with the new environment, but I will most likely book my membership with Rock Oasis in the future due to economic factors and the tougher climbs available. Being sprawled gasping on a pair of loony-like holds sixty feet up in the air with the thrill of having actually made it all the way up and then letting go is just too rich to pass up. I warn everyone right now... climbing is addictive... you will love it once you start... and never stop climbing.