"I
never rock climbed before I started this gym," said Johnston.
Mountains, yes; rock faces, no. The future partners were scaling the
highest peak in the Western Hemisphere -- Aconcagua, in the Andes Range
-- when they made the decision to open a climbing gym. It was an ascent
that would change their lives.
"We had been looking at the whole rock climbing scene and asking
ourselves, 'What do these guys do to train?'"
Cauthorn, a climbing guide for 15 years, believed climbers would
welcome a place to learn, train and stay in shape.
Traditional gyms don't offer the kind of exercise a climber needs to
develop grip strength, and there is no way to learn moves or technique
without a vertical surface.
The entrepreneurs purchased a warehouse near downtown Seattle with
18-foot-high walls. They panelled the walls with plywood planks and
textured boards four feet square, then bolted and epoxied rock
hand-holds to the surface. The panels are designed so that they can be
rotated, offering climbers new routes and challenges.
"It was a rough start at the beginning," Johnston admitted, "but the
response has been very good." Vertical Club
now has more than 400 full-time members and hundreds of short-term
visitors.
Dr. Brownie Schoene, a pulmonary specialist at the University of
Washington Medical Center, was one of the Vertical Club's earliest
members. An avid climber and a veteran of many high altitude
expeditions, Schoene started frequenting the rock gym for off-season
training; later, it became a family recreation site.
"In Seattle it's not always possible to climb outdoors," Schoene
pointed out.
The walls of the Vertical Club offered a space out of the rain where
Schoene could practice moves and techniques that would serve his
outdoor climbs. On the club's 4,000 square feet of climbing wall, he
found ample room for strength training inthe company of fellow
climbers.
"It attracts a wide variety of people," Schoene said of the rock gym.
"Most folks are your typical Northwesterners who just enjoy physical
activity and mountains. But there
are also some really good world-class Himalayan climbers."
Schoene, 44, has participated in two Mount Everest expeditions. During
Operation Everest II in 1988, he studied the limits of human
performance in extreme altitudes. The research related to his clinical
work at the Universitry of Washington, where he has been concentrating
on pulmonary edema.
"I never asked my kids to go climbing. I didn't push it," Schoene
pointed out. "But two summers ago they started saying, 'Dad, you
gotta take us with you.'"
Schoene's three sons, ages eight to fourteen, are now regulars with
their father at the rock gym. And five-year-old Katie is also showing
signs of interest..
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by MichaelHofferber@outriderbooks.com
Copyright © 1993. All rights reserved. |
Ball-Lock Carabiner
Rock Climbing:
Mastering
Basic Skills
Problem Solving in Recreation and Parks
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