Bouldering and Climbing Overnight 2010

Bouldering and Climbing Overnight

December 11, 2010

We left the Elk’s lodge around 5:30 on Saturday and arrived at Rockspot climbing gym at 6:15. While waiting for our session to start we did some bouldering (climbing on lower walls that do not require harnesses). At 7:00 the instructors brought everyone together and taught us how to correctly put on a climbing harness and tie some knots. Once everyone knew how to secure themselves with the harness we learned how to Belay (hold the safety rope for a climber). At this point we split up and the boys who were taking the merit badge course focused on their required climbs and repelling while the rest of the troop had fun climbing in pairs.

In addition to climbing, the gym had several long “tight ropes” made from cargo straps that the boys could practice balancing on. This was a lot more challenging than it appeared. At 9:00 everyone was ready for a bit of an energy boost so we had pizza delivered. After that we continued to climb late into the night. Before bed the boys decided to play some games on the huge mats that were around the gym. All of the activity slowed down and the games became quieter just in time to head to bed. We slept on the gym floor in sleeping bags. This was a comfortable place to sleep because the entire gym floor was very soft and springy for safety when climbing.

Sunday morning we were up at 8:00 and were out of the gym by 9:00. We stopped by McDonalds on the way home for breakfast. While we had breakfast, several older gentleman stopped by to reminisce about Boy Scouts and the memories that came back to them when they saw the boys in their uniforms.

This trip was non-stop fun. Twelve of the boys completed the climbing requirements for their climbing merit badge. It is nice to have a weekend occasionally when there is no cooking or camping required. In January we will be back in the outdoors with the Klondike derby.