Words & Photos from Brianne M, Alienor N. & Ava T.
Alienor - AC Cohort
We started today's expedition at PISE with Chris, a world-renowned trainer and coach, who specialises with high performance athletes. He gave us a presentation on nutrition, with emphasis on what specific nutrient needs a rock climber would have and how to fufill them. We then were led through a mobility stretch and banded activations before our workout in the spacious PISE gym. Chris prepared for us a session that would focus mainly on muscle groups that are needed for climbing and showed us how to work and develop each of those muscles with an array of exercises and equipment. Through this we were able to get a full scope of what professional training for a climbing athlete would be, how organized and technical everything really is. One intense workout and many sore bodies later, we all ate a well-deserved lunch and headed over to the next stop on our trip.
At the Boulder house we met up with some experts who helped us attempt some of the problems on the wall. The wall was tough, but many were successful at reaching the top of their routes. When we were stuck on where or how to place our next hold, there was always someone below who was happy to help as a second pair of eyes and support. We had a really fun time trying new strategies out and feeling the rush of dopamine when we got to where we wanted, especially if the climb was one that we had been tirelessly attempting for a while. With the first day of our second set of experientials complete, we were excitedly waiting for the adventure tomorrow would bring us.
Brianne - AC Cohort
For our last day of rock climbing we went to CARSA. With sore arms after Monday, we decided to test ourselves again with lots of bouldering and climbing as well as belaying our friends with a new type of belay device. We also played dodgeball and practiced our speed climbing on the auto belay. We all improved immensely from our first expedition of rock climbing and can't wait to go outdoors!
Ava T. - BD Cohort
It was a wonderful, sunny Victoria morning when we threw on our backpacks and hopped onto the bus for another first day of the Experiential program. We arrived at the CARSA climbing gym and started the day by reviewing what we learned last time, such as checking our knots to make sure they were tied tight enough or if our gri-gris were properly set up. Soon, we were all on the wall climbing, very comfortable with the grips and the heights. As we were going to be climbing outdoors soon, we got introduced to an ATC, a rappelling device for the outdoors which relies more on friction than machinery. After, we were left to our own devices. Some climbers were seen speed-climbing up the auto belaying machine and others could be seen trying to get across a slackline. We played multiple games such as “Marco Polo: Rock Climbing themed.”, and “Dodgeball while climbing”. Climbing at CARSA was a wonderful way to start off our Experiential Program!
For the second day of Experientials, we took a bus to the PISE gym where we spent the first hour learning about proper nutrition. Our group found the presentation and information given very helpful and beneficial. After, we were brought to the Camosun Chargers gym and did some warm up stretches (which was very much appreciated by our sore muscles!) We then went to the PISE gym and did multiple different exercises with the equipment there. We tried balancing exercises, pulling and pushing exercises and some weights. After, we took a bus to Boulder House. The routes of the climbs were changed so we had new climbs to try out! Smiles and words of encouragement were shared as every climber had a route they wanted to accomplish. After the first thirty minutes of climbing we realized in order to accomplish our climbs we must have rest time in between so we could have better results. All of us managed to touch our climbs leaving us with a sense of accomplishment and eagerness for the next Experiential trip!