I stumbled into indoor rock climbing at age 63 after daring my granddaughters to try it at an REI flagship store near Minneapolis, MN. We walked in and looked up at a 55-foot rock climbing tower and I (foolishly) said “I’ll do it if you’ll do it” - and the kids (ages 5 & 7) accepted my challenge! 

I couldn't back out and experienced a combination of gut-churning fear and later, exhilaration - after the REI staff belayer lowered me smoothly back to the ground. 

I weighed 230 pounds at the time and had recently started exercising in an effort to help my asthma and breathing issues, lose weight and improve my health.

Several months later I began to look for some type of exercise more interesting than the boring repetitive motions involved in lifting weights and pulling on machines. I also hoped to find an activity that was a lot of fun so I would be less likely to quit and fall back into an unhealthy lifestyle.

I remembered my recent rock climbing adventure at REI and decided to learn more about it.