That Rock Climbing Adventure

Whoa. I can't believe that I'm saying this but I'm so excited to share my first ever rock climbing experience. Sa totoo lang, I was really hesitant to do this because I'm a very clumsy person. I was so afraid that I might get bruises and all that from this activity. Huhu. But you know what, in every first time, there's an extra push that you always have to do. :) So here we go...

We booked our rock climbing adventure through OutdoorGuidePH in Facebook.

 

The rates are as follows:

600.00 - for unlimited climb in climb A (for beginner's climb)

800.00 - for climb A and climb B

Once you're decided which one to get, you will have to deposit a down payment to Sir Carmelchito "Chito" De los Arcos - the rock climbing instructor/organizer. And we deposited ours to his BPI account. I'm just not sure if there are other down payment options. Then the other half of the rock climbing fee can be paid on the day of the climb. By the way, Sir Chito is the professional rock climbing instructor who owns OutdoorGuidePh.

TRANSPORTATION.

About this one, we commuted all the way from the meeting place - Mcdonald's Marikina Sports Center in Marikina City at 07:30AM. 

There's another meeting place by the way, which is at 08:30AM. And that's in Norma's Eatery in Wawa, Rodriguez, Rizal.

Details on how to get at the mentioned meeting places are as follows:

 

All in all, from Mcdonald's Marikina Sports Center, we had 3 jeepney rides for more than an hour which is not bad at all, because if you're still sleepy due to the early call time, there's still a little time for you to nap. Hehe. Moving on..

CLIMBING GEARS.

Gears and other equipment were all provided by Sir Chito:

1. rock climbing shoes

2. climbing helmet

3. chalk

4. chalk bag, etc.

Isn't it exciting just hearing those rock climbing gears that you'll be wearing? Haha. Oh well..

MAIN EVENT - ROCK CLIMBING.

We met the other rock climbers that day in Norma's Eatery already. There were 2 of them, while the ones who came from Marikina were 9 pax, which was us.

Ready for rock climbing. Fighting! Haha. :D

There's a bridge going to the rock climbing spot and the view was just ahhh.. very relaxing.

It was a 5-10 minute worth of trek going to the climbing spot. And we had to stop in front of this house for a while. May inayos yata si Sir Chito. While waiting, it's picture tiiime! Folks, meet our new found friend - Ralph, who's an aviation mechanic by profession. Whoot whoot!

Continuation...

Konti na lang...

And we are here nowww! Yey! 

This is the climb A spot.

Then, setting up now.

While the ropes and other equipment were still being set up, we sneaked in by having some warm up. You know, this is to avoid muscle spasm and all the like.

Thanks, Pi for capturing this by the way! Hihi.

 After setting up, Sir Chito gave us a briefing. He even explained the basics of rock climbing.

a. ropes - the static & dynamic rope (parang IP lang, LOL)

b. carabiner (screwgate) - how much it can carry (up to 101 kilogram), the strong & weak points of it, etc.

c. the do's and don't while rock climbing - shout "climbing" when you're ready to climb; shout "tension" if you want to tighten the rope; shout "slack" when you want to loosen up the rope a little, etc.

Then without further ado, here's the bravest soul from out batch who made the first climb - Steph.

It was frightening and fun watching her do the climb. Frightening because the rock seemed to be hard to climb on and fun because there were funny moments while she was climbing. Hehe.

And this is her doing her thing - aura. Pak! Go, Steph! Haha.

There was even a cute cat who climbed the area and Steph named him "Arnold". Haha.

Look at that face! So cuuute! Hihi.

Later on, it was my friend's turn - Fea.

Sorry, I can't post her pictures here as they were on her mobile phone. :(

After the 7 climbers have finished, it was finally my turn! Yay!

And here are some snaps of yours truly while rock climbing:

Hay, finally! Bababa na ko. Haha. Hirap na hirap ako dun sa crook, hayop! Haha.

Aside from the experience and the good company, what I love about this adventure is there's a time for pictorial. Haha. Hindi sayang ang pinag-paguran kasi may remembrance kang nag-rock climb ka talaga. And sabi nga, "for the gram". LOL.

After I climbed, we had our group picture taken:

And this was me and Fea resting on the huge rocks. Haha.

Oh, look at Arnold! Tulog na tulog! Haha.

Sharing with you also our beautiful view that day. If I'm not mistaken, that's Mt. Hapunang Banoi and Mt. Pamintinan.

This is me at 18:22 while waiting for the packing up. Hehe.

By the way, before sundown, we took a side trip on the ledge beside the rock climbing spot. And that's a cliff in front of us. Hence, my face. Haha.

It was hard to get here as you have to go through this small hole.

But sa ngalan ng magandang view, aura and some thrill, let's gooo! But of course, take a lot of extra care kasi sobrang takot na takot si Sir Chito for us. Also, 2-3 persons lang yung kasya dito, mamali lang ng galaw yung isa, siguradong hulog na sa bangin. And I'm not even kidding.

Pa-isa muna before leaving this ledge. Hehe.

 We finished at almost 7PM and here's a photo that Fea captured while we were packing up. Flashlights on because it was already dark.

And then.. we're done!

I didn't expect that I'll have fun with this adventure. Thanks to Fea who encouraged me to do this with her. *grins*

Though, half of me says that it's okay that I have tried it once, then the other half says to do it again.

I really had a hard time with the second climb which was a pretty intermediate one compared to the first one. I wasn't even able to reach the peak of the 2nd climb because I can't do it anymore! Haha. 

Look! Here's a proof:

Ano na, hindi na makaalis teh?! Hahaha.

Parang na-disappoint nga si Sir Chito sa akin nung nagpababa na ko. LOL. Kaya ito, idaan na lang sa ngiti. Haha.

My hands were terribly hurt already when I said that I would like to go down. LOL. What a weakling!

I'd give this experience a 9 out of 10. It's definitely one for the books! (Like what Fea has been telling me.) It's a real experience that's a lot different from the normal ones. Hihi.

To encourage you more, here are some of my favorite climb pictures that day:

That's Jek, a legit mountain hiker and this was his first time to rock climb. Partida ha! Hehe.

And here's Jesca, a speedy rock climber like Jek. Hihi.

I wish I could share more pictures but I don't want this blog to be that lengthy anymore. Hehe.

So here.. this is where my blog ends now.

Thanks for reading and hope you'll be able to try this too!

Xoxo,

Dona