ROCK
CLIMBING
OUR EXPERIENCE
I was lucky enough to be able to work hand and hand with the co-founder
of Waypoint adventure, Adam Combs and even though we did not actually get
to rock climb, interacting and helping other people in the community reach their rock climbing goals was more than enough. The whole experience itself was
every enlightening and eye opening. We started off the adventure with a group meeting before we set off to climb. The meeting consisted of us setting personal and group goals of: supporting each other, and challenging ourselves. After our goals were set we headed off to climb. I helped with a young man named Bill.
Bill uses the whole body harness in order to climb. A whole body harness goes on like a backpack and the pulley system and belay rope attaches through the back of the harness. The harness allows the supporting people to give the climber a little extra pull if they need it to get to the next rock. Bill had a huge accomplishment the night I was there: he made it to the top of the climb for the very first time. It was awesome to see Bill challenge himself and even though
he wanted to quit many times, he kept going. I worked the pulley system and supported him the whole way up. The program that Waypoint runs is a great
way for the adaptive rock climbing community (which includes able bodies
and people with physical disabilities) to come together and exercise, but
Waypoint also emphasizes that rock-climbing is much more than just a
sport: it pushes us to challenge ourselves and overcome fear.
doubts, and gives us confidence and abilities that we can then transfer into the
real world and it is a great, loving community to be involved in!
HISTORY
Rock climbing is one of the most popular recreational activities, and
is readily adaptable for people with disabilities. The method of adaptive rock climbing depends on the disability of the individual
in question – people with prosthetic legs can use them to support themselves and push off of footholds in the rock face. Others have activity-specific prostheses for arms and legs to aid in their climb-
ing. Climbers with paraplegia and quadriplegia can use handlebar-style “ascenders” which fasten the individual to a rope, and allow them to use their teeth to create gripping friction and pull them-
selves up. There are many other techniques and tools that individual with varying needs and conditions can use to aid in climbing. Others who have missing limbs or other conditions will climb without aids, relying more heavily one whichever parts of their body they want. Grades of indoor rock climbing walls go from 5.1-5.14, and there is also outdoor rock climbing, which can be done with or without
ropes and harnesses. Some famous adaptive rock climbers include Jarem Frye, an above-the-knee amputee who won the Extremity Game’s rock climbing competition, Aron Ralston, who since los-
ing his arm in a 2003 rock climbing accident became the first
person to solo climb all 59 of Colorado’s 14,000 foot peaks
during winter.
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