Chalked Up (closed for 36b7)

[Nylonian]

The smell of Mesa's Edge was the first thing that caught Alice's attention. It didn’t smell like a normal gym; there was no sharp tang of bleach or the humid, metallic scent of treadmills.

Instead, the air was thick with a dry, sweet dust that tasted faintly of limes and minerals, underscored by the earthy scent of cedar shavings and old rubber.

Alice stood just inside the threshold, clutching a rented pair of climbing shoes that felt three sizes too small and smelled aggressively of pine-scented disinfectant. She adjusted her glasses, her eyes tracking up the massive, looming topography of the walls. They jutted out at impossible, aggressive angles. Painted in muted shades of slate gray and sage green and punctuated by a chaotic constellation of plastic holds in pastel pinks, blues and yellows.

To Alice, who spent her days as a junior data analyst staring at flat, predictable spreadsheets, the room looked like a physical manifestation of anxiety.

"First time?"

The voice came from behind the front desk, a relaxed guy with a massive beard who looked like he spent his weekends wrestling bears.

"Yes," Alice said, her voice still hesitant and unsure. "A colleague recommended this place to me. I’m looking for the beginner area. Maybe something that's not jutting out aggressively..."

The desk guy blinked. "Oh... You probably want the slabs then. It’s over there in the back corner. Just look for the yellow tags. Those are the VBs and V0s. Keep your hands low and arms straight. Don't look down if you get scared, and remember to fall on the big squishy mat, not your wrists. Make sure you watch the intro video and have fun!"

Alice nodded stiffly and walked toward the designated beginner zone, her feet trapped in the agonising, curled-toe grip of the rental shoes. She felt intensely conspicuous. Everyone else in the gym seemed to possess a casual, effortless grace. They moved like lizards and apes, defying gravity with relaxed smiles. Their hands caked in white chalk, were moving deftly in slow, methodical positions. Alice, wearing an oversized gray t-shirt from a tech conference and a pair of running leggings, felt like a hyena trying to infiltrate a colony of lions.

When she reached the beginner wall, she found a small patch of open mat and sat down, pulling her knees to her chest. She needed a protocol. She needed to observe.

That was when she noticed him.

James is the kind of guy who looks entirely accidental, yet somehow works perfectly. He has a lean, lanky frame that suggests he grew tall a little too fast and hasn't quite figured out where his limbs end yet. This would somewhat explain his inability to accurately position and place his hands and feet on the holds as Alice observed. However, this made James less intimidating and more as someone she could potentially approach.

He somehow managed to finish the V0 slab without too much fuss (with height to his advantage) and turned to notice Alice staring at him in deep focus. James bowed awkwardly and jumped down from the boulder and nodded at her.

James had on clothes that favour comfort and aesthetics over athletic performance. Faded, oversized Purity Ring tee with slightly cracked print, loose shorts, and a chalk bag that seemed like it was most likely a hand-me-down.

He approached Alice and reached out a hand...

 

[36b7]

“What climbing? are you mad? Why on earth would I want to do that? You know I don’t like heights. I even get giddy on a bar stool.” I said, looking down at the floor of the bar.

My friend Amy and I were having after work cocktails.
“Because it’s fun, better than that, it’s exhilarating. You’ll get a fantastic high from doing it and the reason you get giddy is the mojitos.”
Amy was trying to persuade me to try climbing on a wall. There’s a centre not far from where we work.

“Yes, and high is what I don’t want. Down here, ground level is enough for me thanks and in any case, I don’t have any kit.”

“You don’t need anything special, your gym leggings and a T will do, apart from the shoes and you can rent those at the centre, y’know like people do at ten-pin bowling?

“So I’m going to rent some manky shoes that I’ll probably catch athlete’s foot from and climb up a fucking wall? I don’t think so.”

“Look, I know you used to climb trees as a kid, you were a tom boy, you’ve got the scars on your knees to prove it. Just give it a go.”

I stirred my mojito.
“I don’t know.”


And here I am a week later sitting on my ass, trying to pull on some shoes that look like condoms for gorillas while some handsome guy has just climbed the wall in front of me like he was running up the stairs.
And he’s looking at me.

My eyes flick from his face to his outstretched hand and back again and he’s still looking and I don’t know if I’m supposed to shake hands with him or if he’s offering to help me up.

 

[Nylonian]

"I'm James. I noticed that you were studying the problem I was working on? It's not too bad if you use the jugs and watch your footing on the volume..."

Being relatively new to the sport myself, I think it pays to be open and friendly to anyone who's curious about climbing. I knew it to be intimidating from the start but I've found it to be incredibly rewarding as a hobby. It's a great mental challenge and a full body workout that's not as tedious as picking up and putting down weights.

I've never been the athletic type but living in the inner city, I've walked past Mesa's Rim many times and the aesthetics and layout of the place has always intrigued me.

Now sitting before me was someone that seemed a bit anxious and unsure about the activity. It was my opportunity to make it a bit less intimidating for her and perhaps make a new friend in the process. Someone I could see myself coming back to the gym with.

"Hmm. Sorry. I realise the language is a bit much so if there's anything you don't understand. I'm happy to clarify! I'm still trying to get a grasp of all the bouldering lingo..."

I carried on, but at the back of my mind I was wondering if I had come on too strong.

 

[36b7]

I laughed out loud and then apologised.
“Sorry, it’s when you mentioned jugs. The last time I heard that was in Hooters and they weren’t talking about the beer.”
I held out my hand.
“Hi James, I’m Alice and to be honest, apart from reminding me of Hooters I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. I guess jugs here is something to do with the wall?”

He’s looking a little anxious as if he’s afraid he’s intruding but sitting here while we chat is far more inviting than climbing up the wall in front of me.

“So are you a regular here? You seem to know what you’re doing. This is my very first time and to be honest, if my friend Amy hadn’t talked me into it I probably wouldn’t have come but she’ll ask me how I got on and well, it would be embarrassing to admit I chickened out.”

I’m aware that I’m talking for the sake of it, anything really to avoid climbing.
I wave my hand at him.
“Here, help me up and then you can tell me all about jugs and anything else you think I should know.”

His grip was firm and purposeful as he helped me up and I liked that. There’s a confidence about him that’s very attractive.
“Ok, what now?”

 

[Nylonian]

I chuckled at the "jugs" joke and remarked at how quickly that diffused the tension. Maybe that's Alice's defense mechanism, maybe it's just her sense of humour. Either way, it was refreshing and much appreciated. I was actually caught a bit off guard by the joke considering her initial nervous demeanour but quickly regained composure as I helped Alice up. A random thought arose that bouldering really does have a lot of slightly sexual innuendos... Focusing on the tutorial at hand, I continued.

"First off, I wouldn't say I am a regular yet because I only started coming here for about two weeks. But I do know my way around and have done a few harder beginner boulders."

I lead Alice to the boulder and explained each of the hold types to her by pointing out that you can usually identify the holds by the shape and how shallow or deep the cut is.

"Shallow, smaller holds are crimps, the bigger more generous ones are, ahem, jugs. Slopers are curvy and don't really have an obvious gripping point but require palming tension and contact surface area and pinches are narrow holds that you can pinch or grip between your thumb and fingers vertically."

"That should be enough to get you started, Alice. There's only really jugs on these slabs but the footholds are pretty nasty. If you place your hands on each of those jugs with the 'Start' label on them and put your feet on the volume, that counts as legit start. The climb finishes at that point over there. It's a traverse on these two volumes and you use all the holds of the same colour to reach it."

I pointed at the deeper crimp at end of the climb with two arrows pointing at a hold that indicates the end of the climb. Alice's eyes followed intently until they found the end hold.

"That's the end of the traverse. Once you've put both your hands on that wide crimp, then that's your first climb done. I'm sure Amy will be impressed if you manage to send on your first session. That's what completing a climb is called: "sending". Not sure why it's called. It's a mystery; part of the fun."

I helped her find the starting holds and our hands were in brief contact; her slightly trembling hands felt warm to the touch. This gave me butterflies but I tried to remain proper but friendly. Stepping back, I gave Alice space to start moving on the wall.

 

[36b7]

James was being friendly and encouraging, pointing out the different holds and what they were called but not much of what he was saying was sinking in. All I could see was a wall of rock that I was supposed to climb.
Frankly I was rapidly going off the idea all together. What if I fell? Ok, there was this big soft mat to fall onto but the advice from the guy who checked me in wasn’t encouraging when he’d told me to make sure to “fall on the big squishy mat, not your wrists”.

Presumably he meant me to land on my back like pole vaulters do.
Well suppose I didn’t land on my back? Suppose I landed on my wrists and broke them? I’m a data analyst and I use a keyboard all day at work. I don’t know how long it takes for broken wrists to mend but it’s got to be at best a few weeks, possibly longer.

I thought back to Amy, about how excited she’d been about it, how she’d told me I’d absolutely love it. What was that saying my grandma used to say?
One man's meat is another man's poison.
Well this looked pretty poisonous to me.

But then there was James.

It’s not that I’m short of friends but things have been a little thin recently dating-wise and he was being friendly and helpful and more, not pushy in any way and if I was going to do this climbing thing then at least James was a friendly face to help me.

“Ok, Here I go,” I said standing in front of the wall and James helped my find the first holds by guiding my hands which was reassuring.
I turned briefly.
“Thanks, now be ready to catch me if I fall.”