Mountains of fun at Valley Crag

[caption id="attachment_231887" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Fun for the whole family Picture: Chasing the Rainbow[/caption] The Herald holiday fun guide kicks off today with a visit by the intrepid Dirsuwei family of  Chasing the Rainbow travel blog to the new Valley Crag Indoor Climbing Centre [caption id="attachment_231884" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Thumbs up for Valley Crag from Cian Dirsuwei Picture: Chasing the Rainbow[/caption]

Port Elizabeth’s first indoor climbing centre recently opened in Baakens Valley and we headed there to see what all the fuss was about. Valley Crag is located right in the middle of PE’s newest trendy neighbourhood, in a warehouse looking up at the ragged red cliffs towering over the Baakens River.

But even more impressive are the brightly coloured man-made rock faces, caves and boulders that greet you as you enter the tall space inside.

Our boys have enjoyed climbing from before they could walk - they would pull their little wobbly bodies up and wriggle out of their cots, scale up burglar bars and easily conquer tall tables and kitchen counters. So logic hinted that they would have a blast at a climbing centre.

Us adults though are very used to having our feet firmly planted on the horizontal, so I felt somewhat sceptical as to the lure of a vertical climb. But, as we do everything together as a family, we were fully committed to partaking rather than sitting this one out on the side lines.

Valley Crag’s agile owner, aptly named Ian Clifford, helped kit us out with some extremely tight leather shoes and simple little harnesses before showing us the ropes. We were divided into pairs and quickly learned how to tie a double figure of eight with a stop knot and how to rig up our belay devices.

[caption id="attachment_231885" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Showing us the ropes Picture: Chasing the Rainbow[/caption]

One of us was firmly attached to one end of the rope and the other was put in charge of belaying (keeping the climbing line taught and preventing the climber from falling far through a fancy pulley type mechanism). Naturally the kids went first and after a bit of a wobbly start, they scaled the towering indoor cliff face with gusto. Us belayers at the bottom discovered that it’s not that difficult to belay and the climbers abseiled down with ease.

[caption id="attachment_231882" align="aligncenter" width="500"] First climb up the wall Picture: Chasing the Rainbow[/caption]

High fives all round as we swopped our positions and the sceptical belayers became the rock rabbits. All fine and well, until I tried to put all my body weight on a tiny little colourful pimple and hoist myself up. Definitely not as easy as it looks. After a few embarrassing prances at the bottom of the wall, I managed to elevate myself a few feet up the rock face.

What looked quite do-able from below suddenly felt enormously hard and terrifyingly high. I thought of Luke’s lean little body acting as my belayer and envisioned him being catapulted up the climbing wall if I fell. Ian managed to talk me calmly through a path of the largest hand and foot grips and I very nearly made it to the top before becoming frozen with terror. It took all my effort to let go of the little grips and trust my belayer to hoist me gently down.

Thankfully physics was on our side and Luke managed to safely belay me to the bottom without any seesaw cannonball episodes.

[caption id="attachment_231883" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Clinging on for dear life Picture: Chasing the Rainbow[/caption]

The boys were quite frankly incredible. They were easily popping up and down the walls, as were some other younger kids who had brought their parents along to belay them. Ian showed us how the grips were all colour coded and there was a series of paths and routes mapped out, providing infinite climbing challenges for beginners and pros alike. Although rock climbing is clearly not my thing, it was such fun to be the belayer and to watch the boys trying to get around the more difficult arches, nooks and crannies. They continued until their muscles were shaking with fatigue and they were literally finished.

[caption id="attachment_231886" align="aligncenter" width="550"] The boys were incredible Picture: Chasing the Rainbow[/caption]

Valley Crag is a perfect activity for teenagers. It is fun, social and a great healthy workout at the same time. The introductory rope course is R150 per person and once you have graduated, there are options for daily, weekly and monthly passes. They also offer fun climbing birthday parties and have a monthly bouldering league competition.

And don’t just leave it to the kids – give it a try yourself. It will bring back childhood memories of scampering up trees and boulders and even if you don’t get hooked, belaying your kids is seriously fun.

  Fact Sheet Valley Crag is located at 16 Lower Valley Road, Baakens Valley and is open every day - visit for full details on operating hours or call 082-576-4623 to book. Win! Valley Crag is giving away 2 pairs of introductory rope courses worth R300 each: visit The Herald Facebook page for more information.

• The Dirsuwei family – mom Sarah, dad Ralph and their three sons – Jacob, Luke and Cian - is a Port Elizabeth family is on a mission to explore the world together, spreading positivity about South Africa through their travel blog, Chasing the Rainbow. See more of the Dirsuweis' adventures