I went climbing at SAFRA Yishun, SASC (SAFRA Adventure Sports Centre) on a Friday evening. There were no other climbers except for the small group of us.  The climbing centre was very quiet, I guess it must have been due to the heavy downpour in the late afternoon that stop climbers from visiting the centre.  This is one of the major disadvantages for having an outdoor climbing facility where the usage is very much dependent on the weather. It can get very hot in the afternoon which made climbing unbearable when its not raining. Oh well, in this case, it works well for us, we have the entire climbing walls to ourselves.

Marzuki came with a t-shirt that read: SPOT ME not stop me. I like, and seriously, regular climbers (I am guilty of it too) tend to neglect the basic supporting technique of spotting a climber. Spotting is highly recommended for beginners, and/or when someone is making a hard/tricky move just less than 3meters from the ground. When climbing on a top rope system, if a climber slipped off from the wall just below the 3rd meter, it will be difficult for the belayer to arrest the fall immediately, and when on lead, a climber is not being belayed till the first runner has been secured. Hence, in both cases, a spotter will help to minimize the chances of a climber hitting the ground directly.

We have the wall to ourselves, hence the waiting time was minimal, but that also means that we have little rest time in between routes.  There are pretty nice routes on the middle wall, it is a little overhanging but the big colorful jugs make the climb less hard.  There are a couple of 5c routes, the 6a & 6a+ routes are a little punishing for those who have laid off for a while but, still doable 🙂 Beginners can start with “rainbow” tiles, meaning, you climb on the wall with all handholds/footholds that are available for grabs. When one has built a better endurance, one can attempt on routes like a 5c.  Usually, the routes are marked with a color tape, or the route is set with one uniform color. There is always a debate on grading, your grade vs my grade, and to fully appreciate the grades, one should climb on lead.  But well, you do not necessary have to really bother with the climbing grades, just climb on “rainbow” tiles. Yes, just climb and be happy, that is exactly what we are doing, enjoy the climbs and have fun.

Talk about happy, little Zea is probably the happiest girl hanging around the climbing wall. Zea is the daughter of Beng Choo and Roszani.  She enjoys watching us climb and inspecting our equipment, and she also likes to pick up the small stones from the ground to lay them out neatly on the bench. I guess she enjoys visiting the climbing centre (not her first anyway) because she gets to run around the climbing area.  Plus Beng Choo & Roszaini allow her to get dirty with her hands and clothes which give her freedom to express her emotions; indeed, getting dirty should be part of a child’s growing up. Her favorite quote has been: ” I don’t want!”… and if you want to get close to her or get her to “hi five’ with you or even to trick her to wash her hands with you so that you can get to carry her (which I did), you got to phrase your questions or sentences appropriately to avoid being rejected. Glad that she did not reply with her favorite quote when I asked her to take a photo with me 🙂

Climb ON, when ready!