Off the Wall

We have reached that time of year where you never know what the weather is going to do. One day it can be sunny and 50 degrees with the smell of mud thawing in the air. The next day it's 26 degrees and cloudy with 3” of snow on the way. I find this the most challenging time of year to make a good adventure plan. Am I wearing sneakers and shorts? Or gloves and skis? I really have to take it day by day. About a week ago I was looking for some options when an unexpected opportunity arose. I was talking to a friend of mine about the recent ice climbing adventure he had gone on. I hung on every detail, envious that he had such an amazing opportunity. We started talking about bucket list things that we want to accomplish over the next few years and how ice climbing and rock climbing have always been a dream of mine. He looked at me and said “ You know, I climb on an indoor rock wall every weekend”. Then he offered to let me tag along with him if I wanted to. Well….. I couldn’t say no to that, so we arranged to meet at the gym so I could give it a try. As I stared up at that 36’ wall of holds, ledges, and angles, I couldn’t believe that this was sitting just 25 minutes from my house and I had never been there before. Welcome to Maxcy Hall at SUNY Potsdam.

Walking through the doors of the gym I had to admit that I was a bit nervous. It had been years since I had been on a climbing wall. The last time I had done this, I was much younger and in much better shape. But with a little encouragement from my buddy Jason I knew I could do it. We walked up to the small counter and were greeted by a very friendly college student. Since Jason has been doing this for a while and had his own gear, he only had to pay and get his gear on. I on the other hand was the new guy so I had to sign the waiver and get fitted for shoes and harness. The students quickly gave me a quick tutorial on how to wear the harness and I was ready to go. I stepped on to the soft rubber mulch that surrounded the base of the wall and peered up at all the holds.

Jason was already rigged up and was working on his first ascent. He made it look easy as he gracefully placed his hands and feet on the brightly colored holds. Once he made it to the top he was gently lowered back down to the ground.

He asked me if I was ready as the grin on his face grew. I looked over my rope and harness and asked the young man helping me to look over my knot and connections. I was happy that I remembered how to set it all up. Then he waited for me to give him the sign.” Belay on” I said, he responded with “belay on” as the signal everything was ready to go. He would be my belay person for this climb. Basically he was the guy that made sure I didn’t go crashing to the ground. I stepped up to the wall and with a couple of deep breaths I grabbed my first holds and up I went. Wrapping my fingers and feet around the holds I slowly gained elevation. With every move I made, my confidence increased.

About half way up I could feel my forearms starting to throb. Part from the muscle use and part from the adrenaline running through my body. I took a quick break just to look around. It was amazing to see all the different holds. Some were fat and easy to grab while others were tiny and gave you very little to hold on to. You could really make this climb as easy or as hard as you wanted to. Just this route could have been climbed a hundred different ways. I decided to stick to the easiest holds for this climb. As I approached the top my mind was focused on one thing, the next hold.

No longer was I thinking about work, family or car payments, just the next move I was going to make. To be honest it was really a stress relief to just have one thing to focus on. Once I reached the top it was time to come down. I let my belay person know I was ready, and slowly he lowered me to the ground. Once I had my feet on the ground and I was detached from the rope I took a few minutes to reflect on what I had just done. My arms and legs were aching but I couldn’t wait to do it again. We grabbed a water break and headed over to the other side of the wall. We both took a turn climbing this side as well. The second climb I had a lot more confidence and didn’t seem nearly as intimidating. After our second climbs were finished we decided to head over to the bouldering cave.

We spent the next hour trying to solve different problems in this location. I think it was more challenging than the big wall. You may not be as high up in the air but the holds that have been selected for this area makes it a real puzzle to solve.

With every fall on to the crash pad I learned a little more about the area and myself. Once we finally admitted to ourselves that we were getting sloppy because our muscles were worn out we decided to call it a day. I thanked Jason for inviting me along and we made plans to go back again soon. I drove home with sore arms and a smile on my face, I couldn’t believe what a great time I had at SUNY Potsdam.

About this location:

Maxcy Hall is located on the SUNY Potsdam campus. This building is home to a pool, ice rink, the field house, and many other activities.

The climbing gym is located in the field house. The hours of operation for the climbing gym vary by the day and the time of year. Currently it is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8pm-10pm. Friday 6:30pm-8:30pm. Sunday 12pm-4pm. The large wall is 36’ tall and has over 500 holds on it. You can really make your climb as easy or as hard as you would like. It is capable of accommodating up to 6 climbers at a time. Currently the cost to use the wall is $5.00 and this includes the use of shoes and harness. The students that operate this area are awesome. They made the entire process of getting registered to getting on the wall super easy. They also run the belay ropes for you, so all you have to do is show up and they take care of everything for you. On Monday nights they offer a belay class so you can be a belay person if you want to. I will be taking this class in the future. If you are looking to work on your skills without climbing too high they have the bouldering area. This 300 square foot area has all the holds and a cave to work on your moves.

You could spend hours just working in this area. It is one heck of a workout. Off to the side of this they also have walls set up with cracks and crevices. This was the hardest area I worked in. I found that I had very little skill on these holds.

Whether you are looking to get in a good workout, train for the upcoming climbing season, or just try something a little out of your comfort zone look no further than the climbing gym at Maxcy Hall. I assure you that this is a great place to challenge yourself and have an awesome Northern NY Adventure.

Aaron Hardy

Northern NY Adventures

“Make Life an Adventure”