Rock climbing can become a passion
Clinging by his fingertips, sweat drips from his brow as he seeks out his next move to ascend the challenging tower of rock before him.
It’s impossible right? No. Rock climbers do it all the time.
Mike Duncan, a junior majoring in art, works at Bittersweet, an indoor rock-climbing gym and climbing retail store. He said rock climbing in the last 10 years, has caught on very quickly and is constantly being improved upon.
“[Climbing is a] passion and love for how you can manipulate the rock. Confidence, strength, agility, balance and communication are the keys to good climbing,” Duncan said.
Duncan also said good climbing is not learned by books or just by speaking about it. A climber must have quality instruction.
Finding climbing instruction is not hard in Logan, he said.
Utah State University offers courses through the Outdoor Recreation Center. In the climbing classes, lessons are taught on how to communicate with fellow climbers, correct climbing techniques and instruction on belaying are covered, said Neil Decker, a senior majoring in American studies and trip coordinator at the ORC.
He said climbing is meant to be an escape from all the stress of school.
“Don’t let school get in the way of your education, you can’t gain all that you need to know from lectures, books and classes,” Decker said.
Bittersweet’s indoor climbing gym has more than 100 possible routes ranging from beginner to advanced levels for practice.
According to the Logan Canyon Guidebook, the canyon offers routes for all three types of climbing which are sport, traditional and bouldering. Sport climbing is the most popular type of climbing for beginners because the climbs are already bolted, meaning metal rings are connected to the rock for climbers to use.
With traditional climbing, climbers place their own bolts. Bouldering is bare climbing: No harness, ropes, carabineers, or bolts, just a crash pad and shoes. Logan Canyon is expanding it’s current 350 bolted climbs so climbers will not have a shortage of places to go. All climbs in the guidebook are rated using the Yosemite Decimal System.
The system is as follows:
Easy: 5.0-5.4
Moderate: 5.5-5.8
Difficult: 5.9-5.10
Extremely Difficult: 5.11-5.14
“Ratings may be further delineated by the addition of a (-) or (+) sign after the rating. A (-) symbol indicates the climb is at the lower end of a rating scale. A (+) symbol indicates the route is at the upper end of the rating scale. Also the (a-d) system is used for some routes 5.10 or harder. For example routes in the 5.10 range may be rated 5.10a, 5.10b, 5.10c, 5.10d. The symbol (a) indicates the bottom of the difficulty range and the symbol (d) is at the top of the range. Please do not assume you can do easy climbs without instruction,” according to the guidebook.
Duncan said if students are planning a rock-climbing trip soon, the best times to climb are early morning and evening in the summer and fall.
In Logan Canyon, Fucoidal Quartzite is one of the most popular because it is easily accessible and well-plotted, he said. Also, the first and second practice walls are highly used but slightly dangerous because of the hillside below the first practice wall.
Rock climbing is as safe as you make it, Duncan said.
“You must have good instruction and climb with people who know what they are doing,” he said. “It is still a very dangerous sport. Be smart about it.”
Bittersweet offers daily and monthly unlimited passes ranging from $8 to $140 and five- to 15-visit punch passes, $25 to $60. Bittersweet indoor gym is located at 51 S. Main St. and is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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