Some things scare me: clowns, cottage cheese, watching the Chicago Bears put their season in the hands of Kyle Orton, just to name a few.

But none of those really compare to my fear of heights. I just don’t like being up high, plain and simple.

So, there I was, last Friday, exactly where I normally don’t want to be.

I was 20 feet above the ground, my left arm trembling from holding on to some bluish plastic thingy that was keeping me from plummeting to my doom. My bicep was burning, my fingers were aching and sweating and starting to slip. Like in some slow motion scene in an action movie, I watched as my pinkie let go, then my ring finger, then my middle finger. Finally, my pointer was the last to lose its grip. I closed my eyes and I was gone.

I felt like I was floating, suspended in the air.

Wait, why am I floating? Oh yeah, the rope.

I opened my eyes to the sight of the Breckenridge Recreation Center climbing wall and the rope attached to my harness attached to my teacher, whose feet were attached to the ground.

It was my first climbing lesson.

I guess I should start over and tell you why I was up there.

Well, I wanted to get over my fear of heights. Scott Cline, of Breckenridge, told me that the two best activities to relieve a fear of heights are skydiving and rock climbing.

Seeing as I will never in my life jump out of a working plane by choice, that left me with rock climbing.

Luckily, Cline just happens to be the outdoor recreation and education coordinator at the Breck rec center and offered me the opportunity to take one of the center’s Learn to Climb courses, which he happens to teach.

The class is available to the public for $20 and consists of a two-hour lesson that teaches you all the basics of rock climbing in the comfort of the rec center.

Sounded good to me, especially when I learned that Cline would be belaying me the entire lesson and the floor of the rock-climbing area was heavily matted. So there was nothing to fear, right?

“All you have to do is trust your equipment,” Cline told me.

The lesson started with Cline giving me the basics on the gear used. There was the sticky-bottom climbing shoes and a double-backing harness, which just means that the straps on it are literally doubled back over through its slots.

Then he taught me the right type of knots to use to tie the rope to my harness.

Basically, Cline’s class taught everything a beginning climber would need to know about the sport in to belay climb.

After a couple of climbs, where I actually did get to the top, it was amazing how the height really didn’t bother me too much.

And with taking the lesson, it made me eligible for certification to climb at the rec center without a guide.

The next step, after the certification, would be to take additional classes that cover things like lead climbing, where you take the rope up as you go.

The rec center will start to offer a five-day-per-week slate of courses starting in December called The School of Rock. Each day you can learn a different technique in climbing.

Overall, I really feel that climbing did help with my problem of heights. I’ll probably be going back for more in the near future, but just don’t expect me to be grabbing a parachute anytime soon.

Like it? Hate it? Have a better idea for a story? E-mail Bryce at bevans@summitdaily.com