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Elyse Whitmore says she can have someone climbing the walls within minutes of showing up at Boulders Climbing Gym.
“I like to tell people it’s not as overwhelming as it seems,” says Whitmore, the gym’s noncompetitive youth programs manager. “We’ll get you a day pass, you can rent a harness and shoes, sign a waiver. There’s a short orientation for the rules and to show you what the colors and numbers mean. After that, it’s really a self-directed sport.”
At 18, Whitmore has participated in rock climbing — or its indoor sibling, sport climbing — for eight years and worked at Boulders for three. In that time, she has seen the sport become much more diverse and accessible, inclusive and accepting of all ages, ability levels and races.
“It used to be mainly muscular men,” she says. “I was the only Black kid in the gym for years.”
But she points to initiatives like Climbers of Color, several women’s climbing groups, and even an adaptive climbing program that meets at Boulders on the last Sunday of every month. Boulders has two locations: 3964 Commercial Ave. and 129 S. Carroll St.
“Climbing is so great because you can see the milestones,” she says. “You complete a new move and you feel the adrenaline. You can come in and try new things without barriers.”
This story was originally going to be a survey of people who teach lessons in nontraditional sports around Madison. If you want to learn to play tennis or golf, there are facilities and professionals in place to teach you and I was hoping to find people doing the same thing in rock climbing, disc golf and skateboarding. But the people I spoke with who have made careers out of those recreations kept insisting that the best way to learn is by doing.
Patrick Zwank, who owns MadMando Discs with his wife, Taija Lehtinen, says he can connect disc golf beginners with pros who teach lessons for about $25 an hour, but he also recommends just buying a few discs and heading out to one of the city’s disc golf courses to get a feel for one of the fastest growing sports.
“It’s so accessible,” he says. “Lots of companies sell starter packs with three discs — a putter, a mid-ranger and a fairway driver — for $20-$30. That’s all you need to get started. A Madison pass is $7 a day or $45 for the season.”
Zwank says Madison’s disc golf courses are great for beginners and experts alike. Each “hole” has two tee boxes and two baskets, which allow regulars to play the courses differently each time out.
Disc golf exploded during the pandemic when people were looking for outdoor activities that allowed for social distancing. Along with that growth came the proliferation of YouTube videos demonstrating throwing form, strategy and even etiquette. Several videos are featured on the MadMando website and Zwank says he tries to point people who come into his store at 6710 Raymond Road toward good resources. But he also suggests they “click around” and find what works for them.
Less enamored with online video instruction is Derek Apel, owner of Alumni Boardshop at 1150 Williamson St. since 2005. He learned how to ride a skateboard the old fashioned way: trial and error.
“YouTube’s weird. Everyone’s like a personality with branded content. A lot of times it’s inauthentic,” he says. “I would just say go to the park and watch and learn from others.”
Apel, who says plenty of adults in their 30s — or older — stop by the shop looking to start riding, advises beginners to focus less on learning the tricks they see attempted by more experienced riders and instead simply get used to the sensation of riding on the board.
“Just push around and get comfortable. It’s more important just to be comfortable rolling around,” he says. “Eventually if you get to the point where you want to do tricks, you know what you can do, instead of just tossing your body off things you’re not ready for yet.”
He also advises beginning riders to invest in a board with softer wheels, which better absorb the bumps from cracks and rocks on the street and sidewalk, making it easier to stay upright.
Is there a risk of wiping out? Of course. But as Whitmore says about climbing, “I’ve noticed people are super capable of participating in the sport. With adults, there’s more of a mental block that keeps them from trying it.”
