As a birthday present, Buddy got me the lead climbing class at Planet Granite. I’d been wanting to take it for a while, so Buddy offering to pay for it was just the push I needed.

It was three hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and it was a lot of fun. There was a little bit of talking about gear and techniques, then it was straight into practicing clipping in, and then doing mock leading (leading while also tied into a top rope). Tonight (Thursday), we did real leads, and I led a 10c, which I did cleanly up until the last move, where my brain/body sort of gave up and I fell. Still exciting, though.

Part of the lead class is also learning how to fall, so the instructor had us do some pretty big falls (I’d estimate 10-12 foot falls), which was a little scary. I mentioned that I had bungy jumped before, so one of my classmates asked me how the fall compared to bungy jumping. My response? “Same amount of terror, but shorter.”

As a perk for taking the lead class, we also get 20% off lead climbing-related gear, so I finally picked up a belay device and a locking carabiner. I’m also considering picking up a rope, but they’re pretty expensive.

Who’s up for some climbing trips this summer??

In a mostly-related note, I also found out today that Planet Granite is opening a San Francisco location! Anyone want to go to the open house with me?