THE ROCK SHOW CLIMBING, ONCE AN ALT-SPORT, GOES MAINSTREAM.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK - A T-shirt emblazoned with the Yosemite Mountaineering School's slogan, ``Go climb a rock'' - a gift from a friend - inspired Cindy Shepherd of Newbury Park to try rock climbing.

Now she's honing her skills as a participant at the Go Climb a Rock program on the soaring granite walls of Yosemite Valley. The package combines lodging, food and a two-day climbing clinic.

Climbing once was considered an alternative sport but, has it become more mainstream with the proliferation of indoor climbing gyms and climbing walls. According to Hope Wolf, a climbing guide at Yosemite, the increase in climbing facilities has motivated more people to try outdoor rock climbing.

It's important, she said, to learn the fundamentals before starting out on your own.

Many people might think rock climbing takes a body builderesque upper body, but the key to successful climbing is the feet. The trick is to figure out where to put them. Wolf helps the students learn to keep the sticky rubber soles of their climbing shoes stuck to the rock. She tells them to maintain pressure on the rock by staying centered over their feet and not leaning too close to the rock in a ``fear hug.''

``Rock has a heart made of stone,'' Wolf said. ``When you hug the rock, you get rejected.''

At first, climbers practice on a boulder without getting too high off the ground. Then it's time to put on a climbing harness and go higher.

The climbers are ``free climbing,'' which means they just use their hands and feet on the rock. They're attached to a rope for protection only. New climbers can be nervous until they learn to trust the equipment.

``Fear is healthy,'' Wolf said. ``It keeps you alive.''

The guides at Yosemite help new climbers overcome their anxiety by teaching them proper safety procedures.

``We don't want you to get a nail-bent,'' said Wolf, who double-checks every climber's harness, no matter how many times the climber has gone climbing before.

Many people take climbing classes to get over a fear of heights, said Dave Bengston, director of the Yosemite climbing school. Others take classes because they want to accompany friends or a spouse on climbs. Bengston calls climbing a team sport because a partner to needed to manage the rope while one climbs.

Wolf doesn't climb rocks just because they're there. She loves the heightened perceptions she gets while climbing. She says the rock smells different in the sun than in the shade, and the click of a carabiner punctuates the sound of the wind through the trees.

At the end of the second day of her latest climb, Shepherd reached the top of a climb called Bay Tree Flake with a stunning view of the Yosemite Valley floor and Half Dome in the distance.

She was all smiles.

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(color) Cindy Shepherd, a veteran Yosemite rock climber, climbs the Bay Tree Flake route at Yosemite's Go Climb a Rock clinic.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News