On The Bay magazine, Fall 2005
“I first started climbing to try and conquer my fear of heights,” smiles rock-climbing instructor Malen Vidler. “My fear is still there, but it goes higher. When I get down on the ground after a climb, I almost can’t explain how it feels…” he pauses. “I’m at peace with myself.”
I feel far from peaceful as my fingers claw against smooth limestone in a desperate attempt to scale a section of Metcalfe Rock, near Kolapore, just west of Collingwood. Malen, whose poetic rendition of climber’s euphoria seemed touching earlier, instructs me to jam my foot in a crack that seems incomprehensibly far away. I can hear his directions, but my body won’t cooperate. Suddenly, the desire to ease the toll on my limbs unleashes a burst of untapped strength. My willpower switches into overdrive and I scramble up. Victory never tasted so sweet.
This is the essence of rock climbing: a mental and physical connection that obliterates the clutter of an overcrowded mind. It’s why people with a fear of heights can climb 70 feet above the ground. Rock climbing requires strict concentration, and even the timid can forget their fear in pursuit of the peak.
Malen has been climbing for 10 years since his initial unnerving contact with the sport. Since overcoming his fear, he’s surpassed recreational status and now operates Adventure Upwards, a Meaford-based climbing instruction business. At over 6 feet, 200 pounds, he cuts a surprisingly graceful figure on the rock face. His teaching style combines his pure love of climbing and the outdoors with the skills he hones at his “day job” as a sergeant at CFB Meaford. Today, Malen shows my and my boyfriend the ropes—literally.
The discipline we’re learning is called “top roping,” a style of climbing in which a rope is fed through a set of fixed anchors at the top of the rock. One end is attached to my harness (fixed around my waist and legs) as I climb; the other is attached to my partner’s harness. He stands on the ground, holding the rope—and my life—in his hands. This is called “belaying” the person who is climbing. It’s very safe, provided everyone knows what to do. Hence, lessons are recommended for beginners.
Recreational climbing has soared in popularity since indoor climbing gyms first opened, says Karen Woo, chairperson of the Toronto Chapter of the Alpine Club of Canada (which celebrates its centennial in 2006). She says Torontonians like indoor gyms for keeping fit during the long winter months.
Sarah-Jane Chilton, climbing team leader for Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) in Toronto, says climbing gear sales have increased steadily.
“I would say, on average, we’re up between about 10 and 20 percent growth every year,” she says. “It’s a slow growth, but in the six years I’ve been working here, there hasn’t been a year that we’ve been down.”
Chilton takes the opportunity to caution new climbers against taking the sport for granted. Learn the rules of the sport and be respectful of the landscape, she says.
“Some of [the rules] are basic, like just being respectful and not tying off of really old trees. It’s very easy to tie off a tree, but if the tree’s 400 years old, you’ll kill it, just because you want to climb. So there are a lot of rules people need to know about and follow.”
On our sunny morning at Metcalfe Rock, respect and camaraderie are in abundance. Shouts of encouragement ring through the air and big smiles represent climbs achieved. Jennifer Elmslie, founder and co-owner of Free Spirit Tours, leads a cheerful group on a Clean n’ Climb mission, picking up debris left by careless visitors.
“It’s almost like a social club some days,” says Malen of the area. “If you’re out here a lot you get to know everyone. There are a lot of regulars here.”
The regulars are likely the ones tucked away on harder climbs. Malen points out a man perched high up on an opposing rock face. You can see him against the stunning local backdrop, methodically inching up the imposing rock face. It’s easy to see why people fall in love with climbing.
But it can be an intimidating sport, one that can take time to learn. Free Spirit’s Jennifer Elmslie says she wasn’t keen on climbing when she first tried it a decade ago, at the insistence of a now-ex boyfriend. The relationship didn’t last, but her love affair with climbing bloomed.
“The more I did it, the more hooked I got,” she says. “It’s almost like a personal journey. Every time you get on that rock, it’s representative of where you are in your life. It’s interesting; it can be quite an emotional process.”
Climbing’s disciples have a special kind of passion that can be a bit bewildering to outsiders. It’s just a rock and a rope, right?
“When you climb, your mind can’t be anywhere else,” Jennifer explains. “You have to be concentrating on what you’re doing and concentrating on your next move.”
Peter Lerch, owner of Off the Wall Climbing Gym in Barrie, Ontario, says he and partner Sherri Spisani often take the gym’s zealous climbers aside and ask why they feel so strongly.
“The one common denominator between [these customers] is that climbing has become their escape,” he explains. “It’s the one thing they do that requires such an intense focus. Nothing else matters, it doesn’t matter if they’re getting divorced, or if they crashed their car that weekend. They’re in that space where they have the highest degree of freedom they can experience in their lives.”
There’s no doubt climbing requires concentration, but it can also be a heck of a lot of fun. Our group of Adventure Upwards students includes Sibylle Foppa and her son Ben from Stouffville, Ontario. This trip is his 12th birthday present—a night at Blue Mountain Village and climbing lessons at Metcalfe Rock. They’ve climbed indoors before, but this is their first time outdoors.
Ben appears to be part mountain goat. He scrambles up the rock with unbelievable grace and agility. Sibylle watches proudly, content to sit out the afternoon after her morning of climbing.
“I think the most enjoyable part for me was just watching my son do amazingly well,” she says in an interview afterwards. “He had a great time. It was such a nice challenge—he could really use his mind to figure out the strategies to get up there. It was an all-round great experience and I loved it.”
The Foppas demonstrate one of climbing’s best assets—almost anyone can do it. It’s hard to think of many other sports that a mother and her 12-year-old son can enjoy together.
My boyfriend and I are having a great time too, but find it tests both relationship and personality. Malen surprises me by revealing that women tend to be more successful than men on their first day of climbing. Women, he says, utilize their whole bodies to climb, while men often depend solely on their arms to pull them up the rock.
At first, gender doesn’t seem to matter, but as the day wears on, the genders divide. Egos are bruised, shoes fall off during climbs, and our fingers shake with fatigue. But later that night, as the “we’re-too-tired-to-cook” pizza melts in our mouths, all ills are forgotten. It’s pure, blissful exhaustion.
Jennifer Elmslie says a day on the rock leaves you with a unique afterglow.
“The great thing about climbing is that you’re outside, you’re enjoying the outdoors, it’s a personal journey and it’s really, really rewarding.”
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