CLIMBING KIDS.

It's not every day that you meet a couple of real Wall-Stars like Tori and Clark Allen. Tori, eleven, and Clark, nine, specialize in the booming sport of indoor climbing. The Indiana sister and brother earned spots on the United States team that will compete this summer in Moscow, Russia by placing first in their age divisions against international competition in San Francisco last October.

That's pretty good, especially considering that just a year ago, neither one had ever climbed before.

Was it tough at first?

Not at all, says Clark, though he admits that some first-timers can find the sport a little scary. Standing at the bottom of a forty- or fifty-foot wall studded with plastic/rubber handholds--some smaller than halt a golf ball--can be a little nerve-wracking, he admits. "Sometimes it's hard for beginners. They don't know what the holds feel like and they're scared of heights and they're scared the ropes are going to break," says Clark.

Climbers wear a safety harness and rope in case of a fall, but the gear doesn't help them climb.

Tori says a new climber's first grab and lift can be the toughest. "I think that the hardest part is trying to get up the courage to get on the wall," she says.

The Allen kids are among the most successful of many, many newcomers to the sport of indoor climbing. Membership in the Junior Competitive Climbing Association is four times what it was just three years ago, says the president of the Portland, Oregon-based group, Jeanne Niemer.

It is an easy sport to take up. "To start out, most gyms you the equipment," Niemer says. "Typically nothing more than a pair of shoes and a harness."

Climbing gyms are popping up all over the country. Some people climb indoors during the winter to stay in shape for climbing real rock faces. Others just find it easier to visit a climbing gym than to go cliff-searching. It all adds up to a great way for kids to have fun and get in shape. You won't find many couch potatoes pulling themselves up a vertical wall.

But a climber doesn't have to be a mass of muscle. "What they really need is to be flexible," says Niemer. Some sort of cardiovascular (heart and lung) exercise like running is best, along with working on the climbing wall itself for both the physical and mental training.

"You have to be able to calm yourself. You can't get nervous when you're fifty feet off the ground," she says. "I'd say eighty percent of it is in your head."

But when you can't seem to reach that next handhold, and it seems like you're clinging to the wall with your left big toe and one pinkie, you can't just think your way out of it.

"People get stuck, and you just have to work through it," says Tori. "You have to move your body and shift your weight and anything so it'll work."

Her brother adds that the holds can help you or hurt you, depending how you use them. "Sometimes there are small holds and sloping holds, and they're really hard to hold." That's when using your whole body comes in handy. Pushing up with your feet can let you actually cling to the underside of a hold that isn't particularly useful on top. "It makes the hold positive, not negative," says Clark.

Which is exactly how Tori and Clark feel about their indoor rock climbing experience so far--they're positive it's a positive for them, both physically and in the sense of accomplishment it gives.

"It keeps you exercising and it's good for you to build up your strength," says Tori. And besides, "Even if we want to grow up and go to college and get a job, climbing is still something we can do."

THE CALL OF THE WALL

Indoor climbing is everywhere these days--even outdoors!

For instance, there are artificial climbing walls like Xtreme Climb, at SeaWorld Adventure Park, in San Diego. Outdoor theme parks, fairgrounds, and other facilities around the country offer such climbs to anyone with the courage to strap on a safety harness and stair climbing.

But that's not all these days you can even rent portable walls in various sizes to thrill the guests at your next party.

There's even a new exercise machine that mimics the strenuous workout you'd get; from a brisk rock climb.

Climbing the Web

Here are a couple of climbing Web sites. You'll find climbing tips, links, training advice, photos, and lots of great stories from people who love to go hand-to-hand with gravity.

-www.indoorclimbing.com

-www.rocklist.com

Rock Talk

It's not enough to climb the rock; you've also got to talk the talk. Get a grip on this rock climbing chatter.

* Aid climbing -- Climbing with the aid of a rope used as more than a safety backup.

* Bouldering -- Very low-height climbing to practice tactics and techniques.

* Contact -- Using friction, applied by skill or strength or both, to maintain grip on rock.

* Fee climbing -- Climbing with a previously placed rope as a safety backup.

* Lead climbing -- Climbing and placing a safety rope as you go.

* Soloing -- Climbing without a rope as aid or safety backup.

THE DOPE ON ROPE

Was it smart to use your safety rope to tie the Christmas tree to the family can last winter? You'll know sooooooooooon ...

Climbers are VERY serious about their rope in the first place, they don't use the old fashioned braided rope at all it's not tough enough and it's too inflexible. Modern artificial fiber ropes have an elastic core that lets the rope stretch a bit. Climbers prefer a relatively soft boing when they fall, instead of the bone-jolting abrupt stop that a rigid rope would provide.

Here are some rope care tips:

* Always keep your rope in a special bag to protect it.

* Keep your rope clean; little bite of dirt can lead, some day, to big falls.

* Never stand on your rope; that not only gets it dirty, it grinds those sharp bits of rock and dirt into the rope.

* When your rope extends over the edge of a rock face use a mat to keep the sharp edge from damaging the fibers.

* Inspect your rope regularly for any nicks, tears, or imperfections.

Cliff Competition

How does indoor rock climbing competition work, anyway? Is it just, "Last one up is a rotten egg"?

It's a bit; more orderly than that, says Jeanne Niemer, president of the Junior Competition Climbing Association.

Indoor climbing competition has evolved because it's easier to make sure everyone has a fair chance. "It's very difficult to stage a competition on real rocks," Niemer says. On an artificial wall like those used indoors, every competitor has the same climbing challenge without differences in temperature, moisture, time of day, and weather. "It's a level playing field for everybody," she says.

There are two main types of climbing contests, she says. Both involve judging how well the kids accomplish a specified route up a wall.

* Redpoint format: "The gym will set between thirty and fifty routes for the kids. They get; scored on whether or not they complete the climb."

* On-sight; format: "The kids come out as a group, they get to look at the route, then we put them back in isolation." Competitors climb one at a time without seeing anyone else tackle the wall.

Kids are judged based on slips and how far up the wall they manage to climb. There is usually a five-to eight-minute time limit, but most climbs last only two to three minutes, so "speed isn't an issue."

You can reach the Junior Competition Climbing Association at:

P.O. Box 19145
Portland, Oregon
97280-0145
or Toll free at;
1-888-788-JCCA.
Check their Web site at:
http://www.juniorsclimbing.org