Our kids don’t play team sports. Not because they haven’t in the past but just because right now, they have other interests. So, I try to introduce them to fun adventures that include activities. The three of us, Bonus Mom, Karys and Landon have birthdays about five days apart. Hubby and I talked about it and decided to take them to Climb Tulsa. Every time we pass it on the highway, they talk about going, so we thought this could be a fun surprise.
I signed us up for the Intro to Climbing Course, which worked out just right for us. You sign the release forms online before you get there, so once you arrive, check-in is pretty simple. They only allow five people in this class. Karys, Landon, and I joined another mom and daughter, and Kelly watched us with a great, big smile. 
We read the rules, did a quick tour, 
got our gear on, and then started learning. Upstairs at Climb Tulsa is where you’ll find the fitness area, which includes free weights, stair climbers, Kettlebells and treadmills. The second floor is also where you can come to do some bouldering. We began in this area, working on learning to follow the different color-coded trails or markers for hand and foot placement. We all tried to work our way up to some more difficult skills. It was an excellent way for us to start because it also kind of broke the ice for those of us new to the sport. Our Instructor was great. He was very good about adapting to everyone’s skill level and had so much enthusiasm when watching each person succeed at a new challenge or task you could tell he loved his job. He did a great job adjusting to everyone’s needs and making it fun.
Auto Bely vs. Top Climbing
If you’ve never been before, it’s a pretty neat experience to do as a family and not just watch. Both kids made it to the top of several climbs. I loved watching their self-confidence grow every time they accomplished something on the wall. Our day included some ‘top rope’ climbing, bouldering work and Auto-Belay climbing.
When you ‘top rope,’ you have two people. One person, the belay, is on the ground managing the rope and slack, and one person is on the wall climbing. ‘Auto Belay’ is what it sounds like, one person use only, “It uses a mechanism at the top of the wall that automatically takes slack for the climber as they ascend and lowers them when they fall or let go. We teach everyone how to properly use this in our mandatory facility orientation.” You can learn more about both by clicking here.
I liked the top rope work more than the Auto Belay just because it takes a minute for you to feel the Auto Belay catch you when you start to go down. My first time reaching the top on Auto Belay, I didn’t like the idea of coming down. This man saw me looking not so comfortable and yelled, “I’m almost 300 pounds, and it caught me. you can do this.” The kids laughed, and I pushed off to come down… it’s unnerving because it takes a second or two for you to feel the tension in the rope and the system working. After that first time, it was all good.
You can bring your own water jug and refill it, and they have a snack machine. We ended up climbing for a few hours and then going to Mad Eats in Owasso for lunch. After our meal, we went right back to Climb Tulsa and let the kids climb some more until they were tired and ready to go home. It was a great way to spend the day and left us with the afternoon and evening to enjoy being outside as well.
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