Scaling to new heights

Jeff Benson

A formidable mountain of homework wasn’t enough to harness six local

children over their holiday break. They needed to stretch their legs

out with something much, much bigger.

So now those children, ages 6 to 14, are climbing rock faces in

RockReation Sport Climbing Center’s “Recreate, Educate And Climb

Higher” winter camp. The camp, which runs through Thursday, teaches

children safety, skills and techniques to help them scale the Costa

Mesa center’s 30-foot walls quickly and without injury.

The six children taking this week’s class didn’t seem the least

bit nervous, as each of them had been part the center’s camps at

least once before. Allison Krugman, 11, of Newport Beach said she’s

climbed for three years.

“I kind of enjoy heights,” Allison said. “I like finding the way

to the top of things. When I was little, I climbed counters and

things. Mom saw me climbing over everything, and she thought I’d be

interested in this.”

On Monday, the students stretched, put on harnesses and rubber

climbing shoes and began their ascents, some of which lasted longer

than 20 minutes.

Another student, Colin Glabe, 14, assisted 6-year-old Molly

McWhertor by belaying, or taking up the slack in her rope, as she

scaled one of the easier, sloped faces.

At least it began easier. Molly soon had trouble negotiating an

overhang that forced her to arch her upper body backward. Colin

shouted out positive reinforcement and helpful tips to keep Molly

going.

“You can do it!” he said. “Put your foot up in that little

groove.”

Molly had to backtrack a bit, ending up spread eagle with her arms

and legs in an “x” shape at one point. But her right leg boldly moved

to one of the smaller grips, and she darted to the top.

“It’s absolutely more in the legs,” instructor Kenji Ishikawa

said. “If you don’t rely on the legs, you’re going to be tired after

two minutes into it.”

RockReation manager Eddie Hill said the students are usually at

least 6 years old, though the center will accept children as young as

5 if they can keep up with the lessons.

“We put [5-year-old] Charlie [Godshall] in the one-hour program

and he did really well,” Hill said. “We watched him for awhile, he

did great, and he’s back again.”

RockReation is offering daily camps for $37.50 per day through

Dec. 30, Hill said. The next weeklong camp begins in June, but

competitive climbing competitions will be held until then, he said.