Dan and I went rock climbing last Friday at Berkeley Ironworks with our friends from Nakayoshi. It was a first time experience for the both of us, but with the equipment rentals and thorough beginner lessons from patient instructors, we were ready to go! Before we knew it, we were scaling walls and artificial cliffs studded with colorful, oddly-shaped knobs.
Okay, well… Dan was more successful in his climbing endeavors than I was. I was having trouble hoisting myself up past a third of the wall after not being to the gym in almost a year… I finally found a course that was significantly easier which I was able to climb at a pretty steady pace. Until I happened to look down. And then my fear of heights got the better of me. The course was so tame that I could have kept going without much trouble, but I knew that if I went any higher than I was (a little over halfway up the wall), I was going to be too scared to repel down. So I chickened out and came down, much to Dan’s exasperation. Dan was a natural, though, climbing to the top several times. Here he is, doing the LeBron James.
For those in the Bay Area, Berkeley Ironworks is definitely a fun place to check out — they’re supposed to be one of the largest indoor rock climbing gyms in the area, complete with the usual weight machines you’d expect from a fitness center as well. Apparently, they also offer group classes each week in yoga, performance cycling, core strengthening and cardio kick-boxing.
Check out more photos from our rock-climbing adventures.