Rock Climbing in Aberdeen
Friday, 30-Dec-2017
After the long train ride back to Aberdeen from Edinburgh, we were feeling a little bit cramped and listless… which is clearly cured by a trip to go rock climbing!
Not outside though. It’s cold, yo. Also; expensive to ship all our climbing gear with us. So instead, we’d only brought shoes and harnesses. Which are, of course, perfect for climbing in the gym…
And Aberdeen even has a climbing gym! What a coincidence! Clearly, Sarah and I couldn’t have planned all of this out ahead of time. Clearly not. Nope.
This unplanned trip entailed Sarah and I both getting registered as members for the day, then taking written tests about how to belay, etc…, and then taking a secondary test proving that we wouldn’t let Henry or Leah kill themselves. Because Henry and Leah came with us! Greta too, even! Though Greta didn’t climb; she just watched from the coffee shop, and did some remote work. Still though; good times.
Sarah and I went over the basics, then got Henry and Leah up on the walls; we all played it pretty safe for the beginning, but by the end we were all pushing grades as hard as we could; Henry and Leah both did 9+s, and Sarah and I were powering away with the best of them.
I even did a 5.12- (per their grading system), though I’m still uncertain of that grade… if they’re on the French system, it was a 5.12-… But we were in Scotland, so one would expect them to use the British grading system. But under the British system, I did a 5.14+. Which I, somehow, find slightly unlikely. Since… you know… that’s where sponsored athletes climb. But hey. Maybe I am just that good. Yo.
The gym itself was amazing; good walls, pleasant staff, tons of space for everyone, and it even had extra facilities like a skate park, pool, outdoor walls, and a weight room. Seriously. Why don’t we have this gym in the States? Weak.
As an introduction to Scottish climbing, it was amazing. Definitely what we’d hoped for, when we totally weren’t planning this before going to Scotland. Exactly.