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Every Friday night is date night at the Little Rock Climbing Center where couples get a special deal on gear rental, belay lessons, and three hours of access to the gym. A genuine exercise in trust allows your significant other to control the rope that holds you hovering high above the floor. Hopefully your sweetie isn’t the type to grab for the phone every time it buzzes.
Fall and winter weather in Arkansas is unpredictable. Within the same week we could be wearing short sleeves and worrying about ice or snow. While there are several temperate days during the winter season, enjoying the outdoors during the colder months takes extra planning for the right timing and the right gear to stay warm and safe outside while cycling, hiking, or running. With winter coming on and the daylight hours getting shorter, it’s nice to be able to plan an active date that doesn’t have to be planned around the weather.
The center welcomes newcomers with no climbing experience. You don’t have to know anything about rock climbing to enjoy the gym; all you need is a sense of adventure and a willingness to try. The staff at Little Rock Climbing Center is willing and able to teach you in just a few minutes all you need to know to get started. They’re on hand when you start to have more technical questions too. The climbing options include twenty-two top belay routes that require a partner, nine hydraulic auto-belay stations that can be climbed solo, and practice walls for bouldering which is climbing without ropes or harnesses mimicking climbing on or across rock formations. The evening we visited the center, employee and climber Krista helped us get started with a tour of the center and a belay lesson. She helped us get our shoes, harnesses and chalk bag and took us out on the floor to show us around. We began our adventure together by trying out several of the auto-belay stations, allowing us to climb at the same time.
The gym has an auto-belay climbing tower in the center of the room where you can practice before heading to one of the more difficult routes along the walls. There are also auto-belays on some of the taller routes which we tried our hands at, literally, challenging each other to stay on the designed routes not using alternate holds or to climb higher. With climbing walls 30’ high, making it to the top of the climb gives a sense of accomplishment. At some point, my date decided his fingers were frazzled and he offered to belay me on as many more climbs as I wanted to do. I even worked up the courage to try a few of the routes that slope, requiring much more upper body strength and balance. I never got very far on those, but had a blast trying and I think I provided some amusement for those around me, especially my date. Climbing is a full body workout requiring leg, upper body, and core strength. We both soon felt the tightness in our shoulders, forearms, and fingers. By the time we left, I felt like I had gotten a great workout while spending quality time with my spouse.
If you’d like to get your heart racing in a different way on date night, try the Little Rock Climbing Center for a heart-pounding good time. If you still feel like you need to complete date night with dinner, take advantage of the reciprocal deal the center has with American Pie Pizza just down the road; get 10% off your meal when you show your receipt from LRCC.
The center also offers birthday parties, yoga classes, and group rates. If you need Christmas gifts for the active people in your life, LRCC offers gear sales and gift cards, too. Check the schedule and get information on their website.
Cheap Date Night: Fridays from 7-10 pm Two day passes, gear rentals, and belay lessons for $45
Other nightly specials are:
- Members Mondays: 10% of membership and renewal purchases, 10% off gear purchases for active members
- TNB Tuesday Night Bouldering: Bouldering passes are just $8 from 7-10 pm
- Women on Wednesday: Free gear rentals and belay lessons with purchase of day pass from 6-10 pm
- Thursday: $2 off climbing pass from 6-10 pm with college or military ID
- Late Night Bouldering Blast Saturday: Bouldering passes are just $8 from 7-10 pm
- Family Climb Time Sunday: Two adult and two kid passes, gear rentals, and belay lessons for $75 (save $20)
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