Seattle Blues Will Have You Climbing the Walls

(My 9-yr old daughter climbing at Vertical World in Seattle)


I love Seattle for a million different reasons, but living 47.6 degrees north of the equator does have its drawbacks.  Take, for example, sunset ruthlessly striking at 4:18 pm in the dead of winter when your body is already starving for a little Vitamin D.  Newbies to the region stare incredulously at their watches as they emerge from their brightly-lit offices,  scanning the night sky for god's punchline, before forging ahead into the afternoon inky gloom.

Of course, RAIN is always the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Seattle.  Oddly, however, it is NOT the rainiest city in the U.S, nor is it even the second rainiest.  In fact, when you scan the list of the top 10 major cities in the US with over 40 inches of precipitation, Seattle is curiously absent.

City	Inches
Memphis, Tennessee	54.7
Jacksonville, Florida	52.3
Atlanta, Georgia	50.2
New York, New York	49.7
Nashville, Tennessee	48.1
Houston, Texas	47.8
Louisville, Kentucky	44.5
Charlotte, North Carolina	43.5
Boston, Massachusetts	42.5
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	42.1
Baltimore, Maryland	41.9
Indianapolis, Indiana	41.0

(*Current Results webpage:  http://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/wettest-cities.php)

What??  Philly and New York are wetter than Seattle? How did the Emerald City get the bad rap??

This is a matter of breadth over depth.  Apparently, Seattle has a whole lotta drizzly days, ranking third on the list of major cities with over 120 rainy days annually.  Ugh.  So, the sky doesn't open in a satisfying, determined way, but rather, drips slowly, like torture, 151 days per year*. 

So what's a Seattleite to do besides investing in Gortex and full-spectrum lighting?

Indoor rock-climbing, that's what.

If you haven't tried it, you should, and here's why.  Nothing beats exercise that feels like fun.  Of course, I do use the term "fun" loosely, because although it is enjoyable, there is that addictive element of adrenaline fueled by fear.  Though you can't really fall to the ground while secured to the top by a rope, the mind has difficulty accepting this fact when suspended 30 feet off the ground.

Snobby purists lift their noses at indoor climbing, which is a completely different experience from climbing on granite cliffs. I get that.  However, the bottom line is this:  ersatz climbing is better than NO climbing, and getting ANY exercise at all is better than sitting on your butt watching TV.

My personal preference is the Vertical World, which is the first indoor climbing gym in the country.  They have a few locations, including Seattle (located by the Fisherman's Terminal), Redmond and Everett.  All offer classes to get you started, which teach safety, how to climb and how to belay, which is to hold the rope to secure your partner. It's the ideal place if you have a climbing partner or have kids.  If not, then Stone Gardens, near the Ballard Locks, is more suited for climbing alone, as they have many short walls that don't require a harness or rope. 

People ask me all the time if you need really strong arms to climb.  Eventually, yes, if you want to push yourself.  But the answer is a resounding NO for beginners. The concept of climbing is more analogous to climbing a ladder than doing pull-ups.  The key is to walk up, using the protruding "holds", with your feet, and using your hands for balance.  Obviously, this is oversimplifying, but the concept works well for beginners.

If you have kids, I have found it to be the perfect family activity. Unlike most sports where various levels of competence make playing together difficult (imagine skiing, tennis), climbing allows everyone to work at their own pace together.  In our family, we have two adults who climb at a similar difficulty level, a 9-yr old who kicks our butts, and a 5-yr old who is just learning.  We can all spend a couple satisfying hours together, engaged in something fun and active, where age and years of experience don't automatically translate into superior ability. Nope, improvement comes by embracing risk...no guts, no glory in this game.

Save the granite cliffs for dry, warm weather and spend the winter inside at Vertical World pretending you're at Smith Rock, under the blazing sun.  

Yes, there are a few other indoor family activities where you can actually break a sweat, but they are few and far between.  Feel free to send me any suggestions, and I'd be happy to check 'em out and write my review.