Client
Testimonials
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Cub
Scout Badge Experience
"...my
son's Cub Scout den recently got the Geologist Badge through the
south location. To be honest, I was really dreading the outing
because I had visions of "Blazer Lazer" in my head.
Much to my happy surprise, there was no music blasting (whatever
was playing in the background was great and not overwhelming),
the instructor was great, and there were no video games to argue
over. Thanks for a very pleasant evening, and Mom learned to belay,
so that lead to the gift certificates for Christmas.
Keep
up the good work. We're spreading the word to friends.
April"
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Berry
and Webb Outing
Hi
Ralph,
>
Webb and I are back in Pensacola. It is 690 miles from the gym
to our home. We showed the pictures to my wife and she was impressed.
You took some really great pictures. Thanks! I hope to have the
pictures posted sometime in the next week. I will send you an
email to give you the address. There are some pictures of you
too.
>
My son and I really enjoyed our trip and consider it a successful
trip. We
only wish that we could have stayed longer. I have looked over
the book on E-Rock and saw several other climbs that I would like
to do. We will have to come back and stay several days at E-Rock.
We both very much appreciate your excellent instruction and guiding.
I'm glad that the gym paired us up with you. Next time we are
out that way we want to climb with you again.
>
Our goal in making the trip was to experience climbing on real
rock. We needed that experience to determine if we really wanted
to proceed with this sport. You supplied that experience and challenged
our abilities. We both pushed our abilities to new levels. My
son told me he was surprised that I completed some of the climbs
that we did. I'm fairly pleased with my success on this trip,
but I keep kicking myself for not finishing Eight Flakes and not
trying harder on Can Opener (I really should have done that one).
You provided a variety of climbs for us to experience which has
only increased our appetite for more. I feel that we did has many
climbs as time permitted; I don't see how we could have fit more
in. Both days we were tired at the end of the day. I will admitt
that at E-Rock I did hold back because I knew that I had a lot
of driving yet to do that day; so I didn't want to get too tired.
>
Now that I have the book I think that I can put together a 3 or
4 day plan of attack for E-Rock and staying either at the park
or in Fredricksburg will give us more time too. I will still want
to use your services for such a trip. Also, part of our next trip,
which will have to be a longer trip, my son would really like
to learn how to do lead climbing; maybe Reimer's would be the
best place for that? I have told him that the time will come,
but that he needs more experience climbing first; that he needs
patience and more experience.
>
>Thanks again for making our trip such a success. I hope we
can keep in touch.
>
Berry
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Mark
Wallace Outing In November:
We
met at 9:00am in the Reimers' parking lot, where Rey treated Hans
(his helper for the day) and me to a cortado (Spanish espresso),
a soy milk latte, and a little bit of his outlook on life and
climbing. It was a great casual way to get the day started, get
the blood moving, and enjoy the beautiful crisp morning air. It
was amazing to see Rey's espresso setup, BTW. He cranked out some
delicious espresso drinks - complete with honey, condensed milk,
and fresh nutmeg and cinnamon - right from a portable gas stove
on the tailgate of his truck. This apparently is Rey's calling
card around the world, for part way through preparing our drinks
a climber drove up, rolled down his window, and yelled "Hey,
is the espresso bar open?". The climber turned out to be
Rey's friend from California. They chatted briefly and happily
about friends back home and places they need to go climb. Nice.
We arrived at Dead Cat's Wall shortly after 10:00 after a scenic
10-15 minute hike through the ravine. After greeting a few other
climbers, we set up shop near a few 5.9-5.10 routes. After Hans
stacked the ropes, Rey gave us some lessons on safety, rope care,
knot tying, and belaying. And then, it was climbin' time!
We started at a little 5.9 which Rey quickly led while Hans belayed.
As strong as Rey is, the climb was pretty much over seconds after
it started. The man practically danced up the wall. Hans then
seconded and cleaned the route with Rey on belay. Hans wasn't
quite as nimble as Rey, but he was still strong, and he finished
the route cleanly after a few minutes. Then it was my turn. With
Rey on belay, I top-roped the route pretty easily, having just
a little bit of uncertainty towards the top but finishing strong
nonetheless. I had just finished my first 5.9 and made my second
mistake of the day; I made it look fairly easy. We'll get to what
the first mistake was shortly.
To put me in my place, Rey then moved off of the 5.9 and over
to another route off to the right. This one took a bit longer,
involved a bit more struggle, and even included a few falls, but
Rey finally pulled through it. Hans then did the same, with a
few more falls and a bit more struggle. I then tied in and proceeded
to make the first several moves pretty easily until I hit the
crux. The crux involved some fancy footwork into a broad horizontal
crack while underclinging with the left and searching desperately
for a right hand. I had the right idea but not the strength or
endurance, and I ended up flailing around for a while, hangdogging
for longer than I should have, and then finally pumping out and
coming down. I didn't make it, but I made some pretty good moves
along the way, and I felt good about myself. I tried once again,
but I was so juiced that I made only 3-4 moves before outgassing
and coming down. Rey then casually commented, "That's okay.
That route is like a 5.10c or something." The three of us
looked at one another and knew what had to be next. Rey said it
first: Lunch!
As we sat watching the other climbers and stuffing our faces with
trail mix, Clif Bars, and water, Mother Nature helped me realize
my first mistake - Never wear bright orange shorts at Reimers'
Ranch. I love the outdoors, and I have respect for all (ok, most)
creatures, but I have never in my life wanted to squish a bug
more than I did the hornet that kept trying to make a residence
of my shorts and their (ahem) sensitive contents. For a good 30
minutes, this little bastard kept darting at my leg openings,
causing me to sit there waiving my arms in some sort of "Get
the hell away from me!" semaphore that must have just tickled
the other climbers to no end. Still, we were having fun, and Rey
and Hans were great company. Rey's stories of climbing throughout
the world were amazing. The man has been everywhere and done everything,
and he's still so laid-back and cool about it that there's never
a moment where he comes across as big-shot pretentious climbing
dude. Fascinating guy.
After lunch, it was back to that same 5.10c route and a few others
(haven't looked up their ratings yet) that Rey and Hans both took
on successfully. I kept at that 5.10c for a while, mostly just
trying to focus on thinking through the route and using my feet
more. I was so tired that I never made it back past the lower
4-5 moves, but I'm sure I will next time. Seeing that I was pumped
out from that route, Rey let me take a break while he gave a top-rope
belay to climber from another group and shared a few routes with
Hans. The whole time, Rey freely shared his knowledge and obvious
love for the sport.
We then moved on to a few little 5.9's that were to be our cool-down
routes. Same routine here as on the previous routes, except Hans
led one of them. I finished and cleaned both routes pretty easily,
with only one incident. At the start of the first route, I got
a good solid hand position, put my right foot up, and went to
pull to get my left foot onto the wall. As I did so, I broke the
right handhold off of the wall. Yep...broke off in my hand. Fortunately,
I was for the most part still on the ground, so there was no harm
done, but it was a little surprising. During the course of that
same route, there came a point where I had to pull on a chickenhead
in order to move a foot up, and I couldn't help but think that
I was going to pull that little sucker right off the wall too.
Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. I pulled through just
fine and finished that route clean. I then belayed Hans as he
climbed one of those routes again, and we were done for the day.
We packed up the gear and got off the trail at about 6:30-6:45.
The three of us met at Bert and Ernie's - a local convenience
store and watering hole - for a beer on the way back to town.
As we sat outside on B&E's limestone deck, Rey shared some
more stories of his work, travels, climbing, fishing, hunting,
and how he met his fiancee. Rey tells a great story, and the entertainment
that he provided - coupled with a few beers - was a great way
to end a very satisfying day. 8:30 hit, and it was time for me
to leave. After several thank you's and promises of climbing together
again some day, I headed home exhausted and immensely pleased
with the total experience. An hour later, I had completely melted
into my bed, and the day was done.
My sincere thanks to Rey, Hans, and The Austin Rock Gym for a
completely satisfying experience. I definitely recommend the ARG
outdoor guided lessons for anyone interested in improving their
climbing, learning more about Central Texas climbing options,
and (if you can get Rey as an instructor) drinking espresso and
cheating at fly fishing. Cod liver oil, indeed!
Mark E. Wallace
Cedar Park, Tx.
Nov 1, 2003
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Dear
John and Scott
As
a new person on the climbing scene I have spent much time inside
your north gym. I first want to compliment on your great facility
with much forward thinking going on. The recent changes hav made
it more motivating to climb indoors.
As
a low paid teacher, I was very apprehensive about shelling out
$250 but in hindsight the class was worth every penny and then
some. The class was worth every penny not to your gym but the
the skill and personality of Dave Tekyl. Dave was an amazing instructor
who was more than safety cautuious with unbelievable patience.
He was even open to and encouraged new ideas to make the class
better for the next group....
I
have pushed the class to many beginners who want to get outside
because of how beneficial (Dave and) the class was to me... I
have met many climbers with a tenth of the ability and twenty
times the attitude (of Dave Teykl).
Thanks
again for your gym and excellent services.
Sincerely
Tim
Vandermeer
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Troy,
Thank you so much for the privilege to climb. My boys and I had
a great time. I have always been afraid of heights, HA! not any
more! My boys, who like to jump off 30 foot cliffs into the water
at the lake, which I will never do, are much more respectful of
heights. We had GREAT !!!!! time. Terrance was super!!! He was
so knowledgeable about everything and also taught respect for
the land with all of the other stuff. I felt real safe knowing
how the equipment worked. He really worked hard to see to it that
we had lots of climbing time and fun. What a great trip!
Thank you so much
Maryann Cameron
