There is Dao at the End of Vertical World.

This winter, let’s become a Spider Man!

It is thrilling to imagine climbing up a huge rock wall that stands precipitously.

But it is dangerous to climb up natural rock walls in the cold winter if the person is not a skilled professional rock climber.

Instead, what about artificial rock wall climbing? While climbing up and down the artificial rock wall which is made of plywood and plastic, one can obtain the skills to climb up natural rock walls as well as building a strong body.

- Where are the artificial rock walls?

In Korea, there are 150 indoor and outdoor artificial rock walls. Also, there are about 20,000 members who enjoy artificial rock wall climbing in alpine clubs.

For people who want to do rock-climbing for the first time, they have to find a location where an artificial rock wall is near one’s house or company. One can find this out by contacting the Korean Alpine Federation (02-414-2750). Also, there are ways to search for alpine clubs on the internet, register at them, and then learn in their activities. The recommended websites for artificial rock wall climbing are: Sports Climbing (www.sportsclimbing.co.kr) and Discovery (www.discovery.co.kr).

- Equipments and Learning

Most of the artificial rock walls are three to four meters high and do not require any special equipment. However, an indoor artificial rock wall at the Pohang Steels Corporation (POSCO) company building in Gangnam-gu, Seoul is 25 meters high. People who climb up this wall without harness and ropes would find themselves in a very uncomfortable situation.

Most of the artificial rock wall climbing are free of charge, but some privately owned rock walls charge entrance fees. The POSCO indoor rock wall is only open to POSCO employees and professional alpine organizations for free.

In order to learn artificial rock wall climbing, one can register for various alpine lessons. Alpine schools run by skilled professionals provide artificial rock wall climbing lessons for beginners.

Chun Jae-suk, runner of “Base Camp” in Sangil-dong Gangdong-gu, Seoul, says, “People who learn fast can obtain basic skills after three or four artificial rock wall climbing lessons. After this stage, more advanced skills and a stronger body can be obtained through steady and diligent practice.”

- Effects and Cautions

In rock climbing, one has to evenly use all the joints and muscles of the body and needs strong arms and legs. Because of this, people who have done rock climbing for a long time have a figure like a piece of sculpture. Therefore, people who want perfect figure should try rock climbing.

Adding to this, the indoor rock climbing saves traveling time and trouble from going out to a natural rock wall causes, gives the chance of climbing at any time of the year not deterred by the season or weather, and is also safer than natural rock wall climbing.

One caution is that one has to warm up and stretch enough before climbing up the wall. Without the warm-up, one can hurt his or her muscles or ligaments.

Soon-Il Kwon stt77@donga.com