Photo Courtesy of thepadclimbing.org
San Luis Obispo High School students have experienced a continuous shift in sports the last two years. As COVID rates in SLO continue to remain low, old activities return to normal. One sport lots of people are getting back into in particularis ,rock climbing.
Rock climbing is a full body sport which can occur both indoors and outdoors. As the name explains, rock climbing is the climbing of rocks. Recreational rock climbing is typically done on artificial rock walls. Rock climbing is a dangerous sport, especially without a harness on real terrain. For example, Alex Honnold, a famous free climber , climbed Yosemite’s El Capitan without a rope which is 7,500 feet tall.
The Pad makes recreational rock climbing a reality. For members who pay $110 a month or $810 a year, the pad is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As well as the climbing wall, members are given access to a gym.
Junior Coleman Howe frequently visits the Pad. “I started climbing about two years ago. And then I had to continuously stop and start from sports due to COVID… I restarted my membership about four months ago. The Pad is great because it has difficulties. There’s different difficulty sections that are great because you can see yourself progress”.
Without a membership, freshman Riley Moerman occasionally attends the Pad, “It’s not an often thing, but I go every once in a while. I started going in late elementary school, like fifth grade”.
Climbers without memberships can climb from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. A day pass costs 15 dollars for minors, and 23 for adults. For those with memberships, they are free to climb whenever they want.
“I like going after school around eight or nine a lot of the time. It gets busy but everyone there tends to be friendly,” said senior Myles Shalhoob.
“I prefer to go at one in the morning,” said Howe.
The Pad offers difficulties for every skill level and age. The Pad in SLO is located at 888 Ricardo Ct. Students at SLOHS have really benefited from post-COVID climbing.
