Built to Scale : Rock Climbers Frequent an Indoor Wall to Improve Their Outdoor Skill

They see the writing on the wall in black block letters, yet they go right ahead making like your friendly neighborhood Spider-man.

“Climbing is a dangerous sport which can result in serious injury or death.”

The disclaimer is found on all kinds of climbing equipment sold at REI, a retail outdoors store in Northridge.

Yet an alternative to risky outdoor climbing can be found at the same store. Shoppers need only crane their necks and look up a 30-foot, three-sided wall that stares them down the moment they walk in the door.

The wall is for climbing, offering a taste of the outdoors indoors.

“I like stuff like this, this is my first time watching and it’s making me want to do it,” said Heather Christianson, 15, who was shopping at REI with her parents on a recent afternoon.

The Christiansons were mesmerized by climbers ascending the wall by nimbly placing their hands and feet on tiny holds and in tiny holes.

“Watching these people struggle, repositioning their feet and making the decision of which hold to try for next, it’s fascinating,” said Renee Christianson, Heather’s mother.

Clark Christianson, Heather’s father, also watched, but he took a different view. “Life itself is dangerous enough, I’m too old for that stuff,” he said. He pointed to a nearby staircase. “That’s about my speed.”

Actually, speed kills in climbing. It is a deliberate, thoughtful sport that requires an agile mind and limber body. It is about setting your sights higher and higher, then painstakingly finding the proper path to the top.

It also is a sport growing by leaps and bounds. Stoney Point in Chatsworth, the Rock Pool at Malibu Creek State Park and Mugu Rock on the Pacific Coast Highway are favorite local faces.

About 250,000 Americans are regular climbers, according to the American Alpine Club, with half of those taking up the sport in the past three years. Most of the newcomers are sport climbers, finding rocks suitable for short, safe routes that can be climbed repetitively.

On a rainy day, when the slopes are slick but the itch to scurry up a vertical wall just won’t go away, REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) is the place to be.

Anyone from novices to expert can climb for free simply by showing up between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Thursdays or 2-5 p.m. Saturdays. The wall is divided into three climbs, one each for beginners, intermediates and experts.

The Ventura County Athletic Club also has indoor walls, although only members or their guests are permitted to use them. Rockreation in Costa Mesa, 10,000 square feet of wall-to-wall walls, is the nearest climbing-only facility.

Climbing offers an escape from stress. When you’ve reached the end of your rope and problems are driving you up a wall, climbing is a way to transform those figures of speech into constructive action.

“When you are moving on the rock, the feeling is different than anything I’ve experienced,” said Steve Novitzke, an REI employee who has been climbing for 12 years. “It’s soothing. You are concentrating on only one thing. You are in touch with your own anatomy and own being.”

Climbers are a special breed. Where most people see a barrier, a climber sees an opportunity. Finding the path up a wall or rock is like putting together a puzzle using intricate dance steps.

A path up a wall, known to climbers as its beta, is solved rather than conquered.

“After failing several times, I had a dream on how to get to a certain hold at Stoney Point,” said Anne Stanionis of Santa Clarita. “I visualized it. Now I can’t wait to go there and do it.”

Of course, straining for that seemingly unreachable hold is dangerous. Exercising caution is crucial. Professional instruction is recommended before taking the plunge on real rock, where there is less certainty about holds and where to anchor a rope.

“Outdoors, you don’t have the safety net of REI to save your life,” Novitzke said. “Climbers who spend all their time indoors often gain a false sense of security.”

The printed warning notwithstanding, climbing indoors is exceedingly safe. The rope tied to the climber’s harness is anchored on a beam above the wall before dropping into the hands of the climber’s partner, called a belayer.

It takes two to execute a climb--the person scaling the wall and the belayer, who stands below and manages the rope to safeguard against a fall. A trained staff member serves as belayer for all climbers at REI.

Harnesses and ropes are provided at all facilities. Climbing shoes, paper-thin with a sticky sole, can be rented at REI for $2. Serious climbers bring their own gear.

Zackery Broox of Van Nuys is as serious as they get about climbing and about his girlfriend, Rebecca Bucher. Broox bought Bucher a harness as a Valentine’s Day gift, indicating that while he has a heart, it might be made of rock.

Actually, Bucher was thrilled. Broox coaxed her up the wall for the first time several months ago, and she has been hooked ever since.

“I really needed a harness; it’s a very thoughtful gift,” she said between climbs at REI.

Although he has climbed for only a year, Broox, 29, has achieved expert status. He climbs indoors and outdoors, and is building a training wall in his back yard.

“I thought about climbing for years but fear kept me from doing it,” he said. “Once I gained the knowledge, I kicked the fear.”

Broox pasted himself to the bottom of the most-difficult climb at REI and adroitly ascended it while about 20 climbers waiting their turn craned their necks to watch. Dressed in black leotards, Broox resembled a fly on the wall, making his way in short spurts punctuated by restorative pauses.

After stepping up to the last hold, he rang a bell fastened to the top and onlookers cheered. The belayer brought him down and Broox checked his forearms, which were engorged with blood.

“My arms are pumped, and look at my legs,” he said, chuckling. “They are quivering. Sewing machine legs.”

Next up was Kane Fortune, a 12-year-old from Northridge. He made it two-thirds of the way to the top of the intermediate climb before releasing and being slowly lowered to the ground. Fortune kicked off his shoes and unbuckled his harness in a hurry: He had to climb into his basketball uniform for a game.

“Lots of my friends do this, and I’m liking it more all the time,” said Fortune, who counts Northridge Little League games and mountain bike riding among his other pursuits.

Climbing, however, has become the Fortune family thrill. Kane often climbs at Stoney Point with his parents, Greg and Cindy.

“We like sports on the edge,” Greg Fortune said. “Danger? We think about it. We probably push it further than we should.”

Experienced climbers use indoor climbing as cross-training, building endurance and confidence.

Al and Nancy Carter of Palmdale climb every Thursday at Stoney Point. They grab some dinner and head to REI before returning home. Al’s 50th birthday provided the impetus to get him up a wall.

“I hit a second childhood,” he said. “If I’m going to do anything, I’d better do it now.”

Nancy Carter loudly encouraged Janel Marcovitch, who had paused halfway up the wall. “C’mon, you can make it!”

Marcovitch yelled back, “I can’t! I can’t!” More onlookers exhorted her to stay on the wall, even telling her where to place her feet and hands. Marcovitch pulled herself onto another hold to cheers before finally releasing. “People do this together,” Nancy Carter said. “We pull for each other.”

Her feet on the ground, Marcovitch got a hug from Matt Dixon, her boyfriend. The teen-agers are members of the Saugus High track team, and while their friends were at the mall, they were at the wall.

“We had minimum day at school, so we went to Stoney Point and then came over here,” Dixon said.

Most of the climbers made two attempts before REI shut down the wall at 8:30. There were no injuries: The greatest danger was asphyxiation from the overwhelming odor when everyone changed out of their climbing shoes.

Standing near the door watching the last few climbers wide-eyed was Steve Holt, 15, of Northridge.

“I’m in awe,” he said. “I’ll be back to try this.”