Saturday, May 16, 2015

Let The Smith Rock Climbing Guides Give You The Advantage You Need

By Tammie Caldwell


The beautiful state of Arizona is home to some of the best, most well-known rocks for climbers to indulge their somewhat dangerous hobby upon. So well known are some of the sites that they have been used in Hollywood action and adventure movie scenes since the early days of film. What few people know is that there is a school in that state, complete with the renowned Smith Rock climbing guides.

The school possesses the coveted accreditation from the American Mountain Guides Association. Their classroom is outside, and their goal is to teach students to seek out that place both inside and outside themselves, where the sky reaches down to kiss the land. First, the student must overcome their own agoraphobias as well as their animal instinct which tells them their feet belong on the ground.

There are twelve individuals who are charged with the task of providing instruction to new students that come into their school. These men are experienced climbers, having travelled the world in order to be challenged upon new rocks and ledges. Steep slopes are their office, and they are limited only by the point where land meets sky.

The average guide comes from a family who liked to climb, and many of them have been on the rocks and the ski slopes from a very early age. Anyone who has gone to the gyms that specialize in climbs and repelling has probably seen small children. Young people lack the instinctive fear of heights, and there is nothing like seeing a three or four-year-old climb like a little spider monkey, in any direction as effortlessly as an adult walks up a flight of stairs.

While parents generally do not bring very small children on a serious climb, once the age of adolescence has arrived, many young people become students. Those who have been engaged in the hobby with their parents for years are already well on their way to becoming successful instructors, paid to indulge the hobby that they love while also providing guidance to adults with less experience.

For anyone with weight issues, fifteen minutes engaged in a serious climb will provide them with the same workout they might get in an hour-long fitness tape. The soreness and tightness of muscles is a pleasant sensation for the human body. Engaging in this hobby one or two times a week will provide a person with all they need to meet their physical fitness goals.

These classes will help condition both the body and the mind for the challenges that await one on a serious, sheer-wall climb. It is the job of the guide to help people learn how to gauge their climb, and make use of even the smallest stone outcropping available. They get a chance to learn their own personal limitations while also increasing their strength and stamina.

Naysayers always love to claim such hobbies are too dangerous. These people prefer to stay inside watching television, and living their lives vicariously through the passive viewing of actors on a screen. However, a climber knows that life is dangerous, tomorrow is not guaranteed, and the only thing we take with us at the end is the experience we gained through active participation.




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