Week 1: Indoor Rock Climbing

In my quest to do indoor things with the nuggets while it's blazing hot outside, we went as a family to AZ on the Rocks, located in Scottsdale, AZ.  I'm going to admit to cheating on this a bit, because I have been a rock climber for over ten years, and my husband started when he met me, over six years ago, but our two-year-old has only been when she was too little to climb, at Earthtreks climbing center in Timonium, Md.

This was the first time we had gone climbing in Arizona. The gym is fully air conditioned  (thank goodness) and super kid friendly. They have everything you need to get started, including gear, and will show you exactly what you have to do in order to start climbing. There is a video you have to watch and a waiver you have to sign, so allow for extra time on your first visit.

They can teach first timers how to tie in to the ropes and how to be the belayer, the person on the ground keeping the climber from falling when they let go of he wall. Visitors can hire an Arizona on the Rocks employee to help them instead if they are just interested in climbing up the wall and aren't interested in learning how to do it themselves, but they have to call in advance to make sure someone is available to help them.

It was a little more expensive than a regular hot day activity, but it was a treat. It was 13 dollars for a youth pass, and 15 for each of us. We have gear, so we didn't have to rent anything but the harness for the little one. She actually did not do much climbing, she seemed more interested in jumping around on all of the mats, but she did like watching the climbers and trying to get her feet on the wall.

here is Chompy in her harness

Here is Stinko checking out the wall

And some mat jumping...

It really is pretty easy to do, and the people at AZ on the Rocks are super friendly and helpful.

There are other indoor rock climbing gyms in and around Phoenix, AZ as well. Here are a few to check out:

The Phoenix Rock Gym in Tempe, AZ

ClimbMax climbing center, also in Tempe, AZ

Ape Index in Peoria, AZ

These gyms all offer summer camps for kids as well (ours are still too young!)

Parents might want to consider getting a babysitter and doing it for a fun date night for themselves! It was really fun!