Rock climbers step up to challenging sport

After a grueling two minutes of climbing on all fours, upside down on a nearly horizontal rock face, 14-year-old Alec Genzano had only two more grips to go before reaching the end of the route.

His friend, 21-year-old Christina Mandello, was there to encourage him.

"Finish it!" she yelled. "Finish it!"

With the intense pain of the lactic acid burning the muscles in his arms, Alec flung himself toward the next grip on the rock face, but his hands slipped, he fell to the ground and lay there panting in defeat.

Alec and Mandello were bouldering at the Red Rock Climbing Center, 8201 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 150.

Bouldering is a style of rock climbing without the use of a rope and at lower heights.

The facility also offers traditional sport climbing with the use of ropes and on a mostly vertical rock face.

Alec and Mandello became friends when they started climbing about six months ago. They each climb four or five nights a week, they said, and spend weekends climbing at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in the fall and winter or at Mount Charleston when it is warmer.

The Las Vegas Valley is a rock climber's mecca, said Red Rock Climbing Center general manager Bill McLemore.

"If you're a surfer, you want to live probably in Hawaii or Southern California," he said. "If you're a rock climber, this is one of the cities you would choose to live. We have world-class climbing destinations you can climb in the summer and winter."

McLemore is laying on the foam-covered floor of the facility, which features 8,000 square feet of climbing space and walls as high as 35 feet. He is wearing a cast on his right foot and is able only to watch since he injured himself while bouldering Nov. 3 at Joe's Valley in Orangeville, Utah, about seven hours from Las Vegas. He slipped and fell about 15 feet, tearing his Achilles tendon when he hit the ground.

Rock climbing has gained popularity in the last decade, McLemore said, in part because of the exposure of climbing on TV and in movies.

McLemore teaches a rock climbing class every semester at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and said his classes have been maxed out in recent years.

"The biggest reason, I think, is the gyms," McLemore said. "Before the advent of (climbing) gyms, you needed either a mentor or a willingness to risk your life. Now that's not necessarily the case. You can go to the gym and take lessons or classes."

The center offers a beginner course for $150, including five lessons over four weeks, a monthlong membership to the gym and free harness and shoe rentals. McLemore said kids as young as 5 climb there, and he has seen people in their 70s scale the walls, too.

McLemore is 45 and said he has tried every sport there is, but rock climbing is the one that has held his interest longest.

"It's challenging on so many levels," he said. "It's emotionally challenging - you're dealing with fear; it's physically challenging - you pull your body up these walls; and it's mentally challenging - there's a huge problem-solving aspect to it."

Alec also said he likes it because "there's always something that you can't do that you have to work toward."

Mandello said it is a social activity - " One of my really good friends is a younger kid," she said - and that it is a "close, supportive community," even when climbers are competing against each other. She also said the physical benefits have been great.

"I don't feel like I'm getting a workout, but I know I am by the end of the climb," she said. "I'm here for hours on end.

"It's kind of like an addiction. You start to have a route you're working on, and once you start to get it, it's like your project for the longest time. And then once you get it, it's the best 'a ha' moment, but then you always have the next challenge, the next goal, a never-ending goal."

The center offers day climb passes for $15 for adults and $10 for kids 11 or younger. Monthly passes are $65 for adults and $60 for students. Shoe and harness rentals are $5 each or $8 for both. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday and Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, call 702-254-5604 or visit redrockclimbing center.com.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 702-224-5524.