Sunday, August 24, 2008

Extreme edge

Faced with a rainy and wintry Saturday afternoon, we decided to try out Extreme Edge - which claims to be the largest climbing gym in Australasia. And it is indeed large, with a wide selection of difficulties of routes to try (very handily colour coded) and large sections of overhangs specifically for lead climbing, which would be quite impressive to watch. They have an extremely foolproof belay system, which is nice for beginners, allowing almost no possible way for you to drop your friends off the wall. The grading system of difficulty of climbs here is different from the US, which was my first excuse for giving up halfway up the wall on several occasions, but in the end it just turns out that after two months of doing nothing, my arms just can't take it anymore.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey there, y'all!

Glad to see that you've arrived safely. It looks nice!

What does `belay' mean? Oh, and I'm very disappointed that there's been no applied maths yet.

Claire said...

Belay, v. Naut. To coil a running rope round a cleat, belaying pin, or kevel, so as to fasten or secure it; to fasten by so putting it round. Said especially of one of the small ropes, used for working the sails. Also in Mountaineering. Hence belayed ppl. a.

Belay, n. A turn or fastening of a rope by belaying.