SPOTLIGHT : Leventhal’s Students Conquer Safety First : Rock-Climbing Expert Believes Lessons Can Help Novices Avoid Hard Knocks

Bill Leventhal learned on his own to climb to the top of mountains. He took rock-climbing classes to learn how to get back down.

“I was always interested in rock climbing and I figured that I had better learn what I was doing before I got hurt,” said Leventhal, a resident of Calabasas. “I knew there was a whole world out there of how to climb safely.”

Leventhal, 25, took his first rock-climbing class 10 years ago from the Sierra Club and has become an expert. He’s been teaching courses for various outdoor adventure groups the past seven years. Leventhal teaches rock-climbing, canoeing and outdoor-skills classes for the Woodland Hills-based Wilderness Institute, one of several Valley-area organizations that offer rock-climbing instruction.

The Wilderness Institute holds courses at Stoney Point, a 22-acre climbing area in Chatsworth, located a half-mile south of the Simi Valley Freeway at the edge of the Santa Susana Mountains.

Adventure 16 Wilderness Camping Outfitters of Tarzana offers a beginning rock-climbing course at a site called Devil’s Punch Bowl, located near Pearblossom in Antelope Valley. Students learn proper footwork, balancing techniques, rope handling skills and the method for tying basic climbing knots such as a bowline, used to secure a climber to a safety rope.

Intermediate classes are taught in more demanding areas and include lessons in rope anchoring placements, advanced climbing techniques and a system for securing ropes for climbing.

The Wilderness Institute will offer an intermediate rock-climbing class Aug. 22-23 in Idyllwild, 100 miles east of Los Angeles, near Palm Springs.

Information: 818-887-7831.