THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502030265
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 142 lines
DAN GROHOWSKI and Jay Clifton are high-rise window cleaners, used to battling heavy winds while standing on rickety scaffolding dozens of feet in the air.
So what do they do on their days off?
Last week they were up in the air scaling the walls at the 1-year-old Virginia Beach Indoor Rock Climbing Gym, the only one in Hampton Roads. Some days the buddies will spend seven or eight hours at the cavernous facility, on Pennsylvania Avenue - straining muscles and defying gravity.
Rock climbing enhances their job, they said, and is a lot of fun.
``This helps with techniques - the body learns the movements,'' said Suffolk resident Grohowski, a tall, muscular man whose long hair is pulled into a ponytail. ``When you get out on real rock it's a little different. It's still good practice.''
``Yeah,'' added the huskily built Clifton. ``And it's a little testosterone thing - it gives you that manly-man stuff.''
Men aren't the only ones benefiting from the rigors of rock climbing this winter. Women, although outnumbered by about 10 to 1, have joined the ranks of seasoned climbers at the gym.
Everyone from doctors and lawyers to shipyard workers and young children regularly test their scaling skills on a fake 5,000-square-foot textured wall, complete with handholds and footholds, cracks and overhangs.
Tom Helvie, who owns the gym with Larry Vawter and Todd Tinsley, said that once people try rock climbing, it's almost impossible to stop.
``Rock climbing is a very addictive sport,'' Helvie said. ``Some people come in here kicking and screaming and end up loving it.''
There didn't appear to be any reluctant climbers on a dreary winter afternoon recently.
About 30 people were performing Spiderman routines, to varying degrees, on the massive wall as alternative music blared from a stereo. At one incline, Steele McGonegal was showing Mark and Ginger Zillges how to grab onto the wall and ascend. McGonegal was the ``belay,'' a person on the ground who controls the climber's ascent and descent with a rope.
``I'm still a beginner,'' said McGonegal, a teacher at Maury High School who lives in Kempsville. ``I've only climbed eight times.''
He stopped for a moment and smiled.
``But I took a semester course,'' he added with a laugh. ``So I guess you could say I have a college background in rock climbing.''
Mark Zillges, a network administrator for Regent University, was first. He jumped onto a couple of holds and moved across the wall slowly. His Docksiders slipped and slid off the nubs as Zillges vainly tried to move upward by the sheer strength of his arms. It didn't work, and he came down.
``He's got the wrong kind of shoes,'' McGonegal said. ``Can you believe the only pair of size 12 climbing shoes were already rented?''
The nonsupportive shoes didn't help, but Zillges made a common male mistake. He thought his arms could do all the climbing. Helvie said that women actually make better climbers, because they use all of their muscles and don't try to overpower the rocks.
``You don't really need upper body strength,'' Helvie said. ``Some of the men here say they learn more by watching the females. Women tend to climb very well.''
Two of the female climbers in the gym had just finished the basics class by rappelling down a 30-foot wall. Andrea Sandefer and Margee Sharrock hugged each other at the bottom and laughed, their eyes shining with new-found confidence. This was the first time the Cape Henry Collegiate teachers had climbed.
``That was great!'' said Sharrock, 30. ``I'm going to join today!''
Sandefer, 25, said that they decided to take the class after reading a magazine article about women rock climbers.
``I think this is good for women,'' she said. ``It gives you a sense of accomplishment. When I got up to the top and looked down I almost didn't go. This made me realize how much strength I have.''
The last person in the class to rappel the ledge was 26-year-old Tim Hatchell. His classmates anxiously watched his descent, because Hatchell has a fear of heights.
That was hidden by his enthusiasm.
``It's very intense when you look over the ledge,'' said Hatchell, a recent transplant from Hawaii. ``But I want to get over this fear. I feel great - this is a big step for me. I'm going to do it again.
``Next I'm going to try bungee jumping.''
Why do people climb walls at all? McGonegal said that indoor rock climbing is like the television show ``American Gladiators,'' where competitors scale walls, among other things.
``That's part of the allure,'' he said. ``And this is absolutely the only place in the area to climb.''
Sarah Fussell and Randi Lamark visit the gym one to two times a week because it's a different way to work out. Fussell is in medical school and finds rock climbing a ``nice stress reliever.'' Besides, it's fun for her to out-climb the guys.
``Everyone in here is nice and helpful,'' she said. ``It feels so good when you finally get it. You don't hear ``nice job!'' when you get off the Stairmaster.''
Dan Grohowski has been rock climbing for three years, usually at New River Gorge in West Virginia. He said that a lot of guys started rock climbing after watching Clint Eastwood in ``The Eiger Sanction.'' He said he believes that there's a ``spiritual aspect'' to climbing.
Jay Clifton said that rock climbing is all about ``self discovery. You learn to trust other people and conquer your own personal fears,'' he said.
And you constantly test yourself to climb better, according to gym regular Chris Novellino, an airplane mechanic and Chesapeake resident. After scrambling up a steep incline and treacherous overhang, Novellino performed a lead fall, dropping about 15 feet in the air at twice the normal rate.
``Whoa!'' he yelled at the precise moment he stopped in mid-air, his feet banging against the wall. ``What a head rush!''
At the bottom Novellino sat down in the gravel for a few minutes to slow his heart rate down.
``It's adrenaline dumping,'' he said. ``This here, to me, is the best drug in the world.'' MEMO: The Virginia Beach Indoor Rock Climbing Gym, 101 Pennsylvania Ave., is
open every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. A daily pass costs $8. Renting
climbing shoes costs $4; a harness is $3; helmets, belay devices and
chalk bags are $1 each. A monthly membership costs $75 to initiate,
then $35 a month and gives you unlimited climbing time. A three-hour
basic rock climbing class is offered every Saturday for $30, which
includes equipment rental. For more information, call 499-8347. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover
Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Everyone from doctors and lawyers to shipyard workers and young
children regularly test their scaling skills on a fake
5,000-square-foot textured wall.
James Nabors holds on tight to one of the handholds on the wall,
which also has footholds, cracks and overhangs. Located on
Pennsylvania, this Beach gym is the only one of its kind in Hampton
Roads.
ABOVE: James Nabors climbs the wall as Chris Novellino serves as his
``belay,'' a person on the ground who controls the climber's ascent
and descent with a rope.
LEFT: Dan Grohowski, a high-rise window cleaner, says rock-climbing
enhances his job.
Chris Novellino, a gym regular, calls controlled falls from the wall
a ``head rush . . . the best drug in the world.''
by CNB