Rock Climbing (Jun)

It was most definitely a chilly and windy winter Sunday morning. So we Kitties decided to warm up and sweat it out away from the cold—at Hardrock Climbing Gym in the city.

Scene 1: Learning to become cultured in climbing

Our first stop was most definitely a mandatory safety induction i.e. pairing up climb/belay partners, putting up and adjusting our own harnesses without hurting our crotches (ouch..!), attaching ourselves to a safety-rope-pulley-belayer system, getting comfortable with belay devices, how to belay your climbingpartner safely and not drop her (eek!).. Basically all safety tips to ensure no kitties were harmed in this event. This was immediately followed by a quick mock climb – up a 5m wall, all tightly scrutinised and monitored under the watchful eyes of gym staffs and our very own Kitty Matriarch (P!). We felt very safe indeed.

Scene 2: Scrambling feast!

Once conditioned and given the thumbs up to climb on our own – with 1.5 hours to spare, we scrambled to our respective walls (this time ~3-4 storey of wall height), excited to test our climbing limits. The walls instantly became our wonderland, with all kitties trying various climbing demographics and difficulties. 1.5 hours can seem like a very short time to climb—not! Alas, an hour into the climb, most of us gave up thanks to the built-up of lactic acids in our arms.

Scene 3: Climbers- and muscles-gazing

With 0.5 hours to spare and our arms to rest, we of course resorted to the most un-strenuous activities – chatting, knowing each other, and gazing at other climbers (and their toned muscles!). Little did we know that while most of us were previously busy trialling ourselves climbing, our very own seasoned climbers (MY and P) have begun a few runs of lead climbs. (*Note for those who aren’t familiar with lead climb: During a normal climb, the climber attaches his/herself to a built-in safety-rope-pulley-belayer system. In a lead climb however, the climber climbs first to lead the rope, attaching herself to quickdraws along the route while the belayer feeds the rope to the climber and holds on to the rope in the event of a fall). We ooo-ed and ahhh-ed at their climbing mobilities – yes, climbing is an art and the way they climbed makes climbing look too easy—it was definitely a sight to behold.

Scene 4: Food!

Hands-down, mandatory food! A kitty event is not an event until food is involved! This time, we settled for good ol’ Korean nearby, comforted and warmed by pots of classic Korean Army Base stews (*Note: Yes Korean soldiers used to sneaked ham and sausages off the US bases during the Korean War and made them! It basically comprises a mix of ramen, pasta, kimchi, Korean chilli paste, sausages, ham, seafood, tofu skins and loads of winter veggies – doesn’t sound like a good mix but boy it was good!). As usual, we chatted, laughed and be merry after lunch before concluding to head home.

Pic: Budea-jjigae (army base stew) and hand gesturing something minute??

Ps. No kitties were harmed in this event

- KL