A couple of weeks ago we got together and had our first adventure since June! Needless to say, I was a little excited. As "The Boss," I took the initiative to get us back on track and planned this adventure. My clue for the girls was a photo of a terrified looking woman, who was obviously from the 1990s based on her hairstyle, scream-crying. If they could figure out that this photo was from the opening scene of "Cliffhanger," the "Sarah falls to her death scene," I thought they could probably deduce that we would be rock climbing. When we all gathered on the day of, I asked if they had figured out what we were doing. Most, if not all, had, but I wasn't seeing much enthusiasm on their faces or hearing much excitement in their voices.... I was hoping this was not going to be a major flop of an adventure.
We made our way to Dean's Downtown Underground, a historical and first-of-its-kind subterranean commercial complex. This "underground city" was a KC phenomenon I had previously heard about, but I really didn't know where or what it was. The fact that our adventure led us to this little-known part of our city made me aware of a secondary benefit of our adventure club- we've gotten to explore and experience so many different neighborhoods and areas of the metro that we likely would never have reason to visit otherwise. It has made me more appreciative of all Kansas City has to offer, and I've realized it's a much larger city than I previously believed. Check out the Underground at http://www.deanrealtyco.com/Downtown_Underground/
When you get to the Underground, all you see is a parking lot and a singular silo-looking structure. We were a little confused, but the address matched so we proceeded inside and found a vestibule with a single elevator. There was a sign stating maximum capacity on the elevator was six persons, so we descended the ten stories in two groups. Meghan, Leah, Amy and myself were on the first elevator and just as the doors began closing, Jessi hopped on and said, "I don't want to ride this thing with Alli!" (Alli is the most anxious of us all) As the elevator came to rest at our destination, there was a bit of rattling/shaking of the car and a cranking sort of noise that lasted for a few seconds. I said, "Oh, Alli's gonna love that," and we all laughed and waited for the second group of girls to come down. Once again, the same noise and vibrations occurred as the elevator came to a stop and from outside the elevator we could hear Alli say, "Jesus Christ! What was that?" Again, we erupted in laughter... so predictable! Thanks for the entertainment, Alli.
We followed the posted directions down a long hallway and as we walked we all started noticing that something was just different being so far underground. I said, "the air feels heavier down here," to which Leah followed, "is there oxygen down here?" Someone wanted to know what would happen if the whole thing caved in. Simple answer; we'd all be screwed. Meghan said, "who knew just getting to the adventure, would be an adventure in itself?!" Finally, we arrived at The Cave Bouldering Gym.
We each paid a nominal fee, signed a waiver, and changed into special rock climbing shoes they lent us. I had arranged for an instructor to assist us for our two hours at the gym. Tyler, a slight young man, who was obviously younger (and smaller) than most of us, ended up being our instructor. My first thought was, "he's not gonna be able to catch me if I fall." I guess I was expecting someone more Sly Stallone like. Nevertheless, Tyler was nice, and patient, and pretty encouraging. He gave us a quick rundown on how things work. The idea is that you follow a pre-set route as you climb up the wall. There were small notes all over the base of the wall indicating the starting point of a route, giving it a name and a rating based on difficulty, acknowledging who made the route, and designating a specific color/pattern of tape to identify it by. Each of the nubbins you were supposed to use to grab hold or step on for any given route were also marked with the same tape, and then there were boxes taped out at the top of the wall indicating the end of the route. The goal was to climb high enough to touch your designated box.
 |
Tyler helping Leah spot the next move on her route.
Notice all the strips of different colored tape |
After about three minutes of instruction, Tyler was like, "ok, go ahead and start climbing." I'm pretty sure Meagan and/or Leah and myself were the first to try it. I made it about half way up the wall pretty easy, but then as I reached for one of my designated nubbins that was a decent reach above me, I lost my grip and fell hard, flat on my back. My thought, "well this is gonna be harder than it looks." Meagan and Leah had better luck and made it to the top. Meghan was also pretty good right from the get go. The three of them were definitely the most adventurous, trying several different routes and moving beyond the easiest ones. Leah earned the nickname, Squirrel, as she scurried up the walls, making it all look like a breeze. She tried some sideways climbs and some upside down climbs and she pretty much excelled at all of it! As she tested out some of the different routes, she found that someone named 'Steve' created the most intense and impossible ones. After succumbing to one of Steve's climbs, she exclaimed, "F**k Steve!" Then cowered a little, looked around, and said, "Steve's not here, is he???" He wasn't. :)
 |
| Leah, aka Squirrel, showing us all how it's done! |
 |
| Leah |
After my first failed attempt, I decided that some of the moves on the designated routes were beyond my capabilities, and I was just going to forge my own path up the wall in hopes that I would be able to reach the top just once. Luckily, my thought process worked and I found it much easier to make it up the wall when I didn't pay as much attention to using the "correct" nubbins. My intention was to warm up this way and then try a designated route again. However, after a couple freestyle climbs, I was completely gassed. After resting awhile, I thought I was ready to try it again and found a route that was marked by Barbie tape. Barbie tape. Can't be that bad, right? I gave it a go and made it about 2/3 of the way up, then I hit a point where my arms felt like jello and I knew if I didn't retreat down the wall as soon as possible, my arms were going to turn to mush and it wasn't going to end well. Some of the other girls were able to conquer Barbie, which made me want it that much more. I lingered there for a long time, wishing I hadn't burned all my fuel earlier, pretty much staring down the wall and its Barbie tape. Alli said, "you want this bad. I can tell." I did, but I wanted to keep my face and body intact more. I was done.
 |
| I may have cheated, but I made it to the top! |
 |
| Destiny |
I spent the rest of our time there in awe of Leah, Meagan and Meghan who seemed to never stop climbing. Where was their strength and endurance coming from?? If this were a competition, Meagan and Meghan would have shared the silver medal, behind Leah's gold. Both took a decent fall at one point, but got back up and kept on going. They attempted a lot of the same difficult climbs as Leah and made it to the top several times. Somehow, they never seemed to look tired or pained. I was truly impressed... and envious. Props to you, girls!
 |
| Meagan scaling the wall like she does this everyday! |
 |
| Meagan |
 |
| Meghan |
 |
| Rock star Meghan! |
Jessi struggled a little bit to get started, more so because of her fear of heights than her athletic ability. Once she warmed up to it, she did really well, but there was an ongoing fight with her anxieties. She said she always felt like she was much higher off the ground than she knew she actually was, and at one point while she was waiting her turn she admitted, "my hands are sweating just thinking about getting up there!" Jessi also fell victim to Barbie's wrath, but that didn't stop her. She went on to try some other, more challenging climbs. Good job, J! Proud of you!
 |
| Jessi conquering her fears! |
 |
| Jessi |
It took Amy a few tries to get started and she took a few tumbles, but she never gave up and she climbed (
almost all the way up) that wall! Watching Amy has always been one of my favorite parts of any physically challenging adventure. She will readily admit that she's a bit of a klutz, and has been known to wipe out while walking on dry, flat ground. But, what she lacks in agility and deftness, she makes up for with confidence, determination and dedication. While she may not be the one who offers to go first, she is always happy to try whatever the adventure at hand is, no matter how 'out of her comfort zone' it may be. She never seems to get deterred, upset or self-conscious when she struggles. She's always smiling at adventures and I often feel like she is the poster child for what I hoped we would all gain from this club. Thanks for being a truly fearless Femme, Amy!
 |
| Get it, Amy! |
 |
| Amy |
I'd have to say Alli and Lisa were the least 'into it.' Lisa was hesitant to give it a try, but after seeing everyone else do it, she made a few moves up the wall before jumping/falling off. She preferred to climb 'under the radar' when the majority of the group's attention was focused elsewhere. I was told that on her best attempt she made it about 3/4 of the way up the wall, but I think Amy may have been the only one to see it.
Alli was uncharacteristically reluctant to try and said that her fears of falling were stifling her, but with a lot of encouragement, a little bit of peer pressure, and everyone's blessing that she didn't have to follow one of the pre-set routes, she cautiously gave it a go. After a few trial runs, she finally got one little finger on the edge of one of the boxes at the top of the wall. Mission accomplished!
 |
| You did it, Alli! |
 |
| Alli |
 |
| Lisa |
 |
This is the only action pic I got of Lisa and I was about two seconds too late.
At least she landed on her feet! |
Throughout the adventure we discussed how surprised we were by the athleticism required. I mean, we expected it would require a lot of upper body strength, but weren't prepared for the cardio workout we got. I was caught off guard by how sweaty and out of breath I became after 30-60 seconds of activity. Meghan noted, "it's crazy how quickly that makes your heart rate go up." We anticipated we would be sore in the coming days; we were. At the end, Jessi said, "I know I always say this, but that was much more enjoyable than I expected." Maybe someday she'll learn to trust the process. :)
As we were walking back down the Underground hallway towards the elevator and exit, Alli nonchalantly said, "I think I could do that again..." Really, Alli????
