After our rock climbing adventure, my friends and I are hooked on climbing. We were determined to do better on our next climb so we decided to meet again and practice climbing on a wall.
We found ourselves at Centro Athletico in Cubao, where the rates are a-okay and the location is convenient for all of us who are coming from different sides of the metro.
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| @ Centro Athletico, instructors gave us the basics |
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| Hmm...Seems like the rules of rock climbing also apply in wall climbing... |
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| So off we go...Fonci climbed first. |
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| He tried his hardest to overtake the little kid. ^_^ |
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| And then, there's Patch! |
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| Level 1 Wall was a breeze for her. |
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| And then, it's my turn. |
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| Ready for the next wall. |
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| The Girls are mighty proud for finishing their Level 2 Wall. |
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| Up, up and away, Senyorita Lakwatsera! |
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| Senyorita Lakwatsera to the Belayer: Going Down! |
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| Rappelling down is so much fun! Try it, try it! You must! |
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| There's Marjo working on Level 3 Wall |
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| We met some wall climbers in the area and they gave us tips. To build endurance, they don't just go up. They go sideways. This is actually harder than it looks, especially for the vertically challenged. A lot of the holds were not built to be climbed sideways. You have to reach farther to hold them. |
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| Climbing sideways is also how boulder climbers practice. That's one thing I have yet to try. Someday, probably. When I'm stronger and more confident in maintaining my holds. |
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| Still climbing sideways --- this seems harder on the muscles. When you climb up, the arms are mostly for support, so they pretty much hang straight up, using up less muscles. You climb up using the legs. With sideways climbing, both the arms and the legs are used. After a while, I gave up. Or should I say, my arms gave up. |
A few hours later, as we sit and complain about our sore muscles, we realized wall climbing is a lot easier compared with rock climbing. For one thing, if you'd study each wall, they normally have marks on what holds to use next. You'd only need to follow the marks to climb up. Also, the holds are not as jagged; they don't bite on your hand as much as rocks do. There's also the fact that climbing in a secured indoor area, where mattresses are laid out below to break your fall, makes you even more confident to climb up.
After a great workout, we're ready to move on to a more serious agenda --- food. ^_^
Details:
Centro Athletica Power Up
in Hataw Isports Inc.
25 West Road cor North Road
Cubao, Quezon City
Tel# (632) 412-7480
Facilities:
-15 meter walls / 8 anchored belay stations / wall varies from 90degrees vertical, small roofs to sustained incline walls
-Bouldering wall
-Badminton courts also in the vicinity / air-con bath room
Opening Hours:
Weekdays 2pm - 10pm / Weekends 12pm - 8pm
Walk-in Climbing Rates:
Adult-P150
High school and below-P120
Bouldering-P100
30 days membership-P1300
2 weeks membership-P700
Directions:
From EDSA (north bound) make a U-Turn at P.Tuazon and head south bound.
The first street on the right after P.Tuazon is North Road. Take that and head straight.
Shortcuts: Take Ortigas Avenue westbound, then turn right to Annapolis,
left to Eisenhower straight to Horsehoe village, then turn right to Mariposa and left to West Road.
MRT - Get off at cubao station and take a bus South bound to the corner of north Road (about 3 to 5 mins) then walk to the end of North Road. OR you could get a cab from the cubao station all the way to Centro OR just walk from the cubao station to Centro (about a 15 minute walk).
