Once seen as the most extreme of outdoor sports, and one that only attracted the uber-fit thrill seekers who lived somewhere near a mountain, rock climbing has gone mainstream.
With indoor climbing walls in nearly every city catering to participants at every level “” even beginners “” the sport has become one of the fastest-growing workout alternatives to the hum-drum gym treadmill and stationary bike. Climbing is a full-body exercise, according to Hannah Weeger, a shift supervisor and instructor at RockQuest Climbing Center in Sharonville. Depending on the difficulty level, you can burn 600 to 800 calories an hour on a good climb, about the same as a serious run.
“It works everything: Your arms, your legs, your upper body. You build strength, balance. It’s just a great workout, and it’s fun. People come in all the time just to see what we’re about and get hooked,” said Weeger, who started climbing at RockQuest a decade ago as a newbie.
Ready to go for a climb?
You can find around 20 climbing gyms in Ohio and close to a dozen in Kentucky. The Tri-State has about a half-dozen spots to climb, itself.
Generally speaking, the centers feature specially constructed walls of rock or wood. The walls can be as high as 100 feet, and the floors are thickly padded to guard against injury during the occasional fall. The walls offer various difficulty levels, catering to everything from beginners to seasoned veterans.
At RockQuest, “we have people who do it professionally who live in the area that come in and we get people all the time who just want to see what it’s all about,” Weeger said.
The gym, which has 20,000 square feet of climbing walls and an 80-foot lead wall, has several packages for the newbies.
“We have a basic climbing class for $10 for newcomers. You can come in off the street and one of our staff members will work with you, and get you climbing. It’s a great way to see if it’s something you want to keep doing or if it’s something you never want to do again. Most people can’t wait to get back on the wall,” Weeger said.
A look at some of the spots to get climbing in the area:
- 3475 E. Kemper Road, Sharonville
- (513) 733-0123
- Walls for all levels of expertise and “Monday Mentoring” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, a free clinic intended to help introduce new climbers to the indoor community.
- 10898 Kenwood Road, Blue Ash
- (513) 891-4850
- This center has more than 7,000 square feet of climbing, specializing in bouldering “” climbing without ropes “” but also has a variety of rope-climbing opportunities. Walk-ins are welcome.
- Eden Park Drive
- The man-made limestone wall, built in the early 1800s, has found a new life as a popular climbing spot. Four hundred feet long and 30 feet high, it’s open for top-rope climbing.
- 2820 Bearcat Way (on campus)
- (513) 556-6000
- The center has climbing walls “” two 28-foot and four 40-foot walls “” with belay bars to accommodate multiple users. It also has a bouldering wall. Altogether, you’ll find about 2,000 square-feet of climbing surfaces.
- 435 Ohio Pike, Beechmont
- (513) 528-5700
- The club has a 36-foot wall for climbing. Members can sign up for open sessions on the second Saturday of each month for $9. Otherwise, the club offers professional instruction and kids climbing classes.
