The Smith Rock Climbing Guides Are The Mentors Of This Generation

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, started in the early 1980s, has been granted accreditation from the AMGA, or American Mountain Guides Association. Students are taught to challenge their own fears by going against a natural instinct all animals other than birds and ocean inhabitants posses, which tells them to keep their feet on the ground. When a person learns to overcome this acrophobia, it translates to them gaining the ability to overcome their response to all the fears they have in life.

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.

Most of them started to climb as children of parents who already understood the benefit of challenging the elements of land, wind and sky, as well as the limitations we all tend to set within ourselves. As children we lack the fear associated with danger, and little ones are a pleasure to watch. Go to a repelling park where people practice this hobby and one will find many children able to climb in seemingly impossible directions.

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 neophytes, a fifteen minute climb can provide them with a workout equivalent to an hour of group fitness. Simply climbing a wall utilizes every muscle the body has, and the endorphins released help to sharpen the mind and strengthen the spirit. Attending class or visiting a climbers park weekly can help any lazy office-dweller stay fit, and it is an excellent team-building activity.

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.

While there are those regarding such hobbies as too extreme for sound-minded individuals, those who love to snow-ski or hanglide have already experienced the benefits of taking on risk. When a climber has had some experience and training in cliff-hanging scenarios, they are ready to handle any emergency that arises during a climb. These are excellent life-skills, and provide better treatment for anxiety than pharmaceuticals.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment