For those about to climb a rock...

Not everyone who's "climbing the walls" does so because they're extremely nervous or upset. Unlike antsy kids trapped inside on a rainy Saturday, rock climbers are scaling walls because they want to. Whether it's granite face, a curving boulder or a man-made wall speckled with toeholds and finger-hooks, there are plenty of vertical surfaces throughout Northern California ready to be scaled by eager climbers."It's just really fun," Bart O'Brien said of rock climbing. O'Brien, superintendent of the Placer Union High School District, started climbing more than 35 years ago, and does a lot of climbing in the Sierra Nevada area."I was just drawn to mountains," he said. "I was an avid reader of National Geographic and was drawn to stories of mountaineering and climbing. In those days we just learned on our own. We bought a book or two, taught ourselves and hoped to run into an expert."O'Brien said one of the beauties of rock climbing is that once you acquire your equipment, pretty much any rock face or mountainous terrain is fair game because climbing areas tend to be on public land like national parks and national forests. It's easy to get sucked into the sport, O'Brien said. "I've always loved the mountains and the mental engagement, or the challenge, and the beautiful scenery," he said.There are a number of local outdoor hotspots for climbing. "The best climbing within an hour of Auburn is Donner summit," O'Brien said. "It's not Yosemite but it's on the climbers' map. It's excellent rock and it has a variety of climbs on different levels of challenge. The climbs tend to be short but extremely challenging."Lover's Leap, off Highway 50 in Strawberry, is another local hotspot favored by climbers far and wide."That's a really famous climbing area," O'Brien said. "People come from all over the country to climb there, and Europe as well. The attraction of Lover's Leap is that it's very steep and it has long, moderate rock climbs."Other popular climbing areas in the region are Sugarloaf, off Highway 50 near Kyburz, which offers the best regional year-round climbing, and Buck's Bar, located on the Cosumnes River out of Placerville, where shorter climbs make for a good area for beginners, O'Brien said. Of course, natural stone isn't the only surface worth climbing.Shawn Sullivan, manager of the Granite Arch Climbing Center in Rancho Cordova, said beginners and pros alike benefit from using an indoor climbing gym.The controlled environment is great for climbers just starting out."When you go outdoors you have hundreds of feet of rock, and snakes, and trees, and that's intimidating, and then you're trying to learn a new sport on top of that," Sullivan said. "There are purists who only climb outdoors. It's harder to learn the technique and the skill climbing outdoors."Indoor walls are also great practice for outdoor challenges, Sullivan said, and a climbing supplement for weekend warriors who want to keep their muscles warm between outdoor excursions.Sullivan, 25, has been climbing for about a decade, and while he's mostly an indoor climber, Sullivan believes there's much to be said for local outdoor climbing."It's so accessible - you drive up there and it's right off the road," Sullivan said. "It's also the closest legal area to climb in the Sacramento area. It's just such a great area, so why not take advantage of it?"The Journal's Loryll Nicolaisen can be reached at lorylln@goldcountrymedia.com.Where to find a rockGet your climb on through these indoor and outdoor outlets:Pipeworks Sacramento116 N. 16th St., Sacramento(916) 341-0100Granite Arch11335 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova(916) 638-4605Stellar Gymnastic Academy110 Spring Hill Drive #14, Grass Valley(530) 273-3680Rock Sport Indoor Climbing Center1901 Silverado Blvd., Reno(775) 352-7673Rocknasium720 Olive Drive #Z, Davis(530) 757-2902Alpine Skills International11400 Donner Pass Rd., Truckee(530) 426-9108