The guides were SO good being patient, making you feel safe. Across the way is where the white pass railway travels. I took another quick selfie as we waited. She was very brave, but in the end decided she didn't want to rappel.) For the 8-year old girl in the group, they told her she didn't weigh enough to override the backup, so they would just have to lower her. You'd think this wouldn't be nerve wracking, because we literally just got belayed down from where we climbed to, but the difference is with rappeling, you have to take that first step off the wall! (And you control your own descent speed, though they had us on a back up, so if you were out of control, the guide would do it. Of course one of the best parts of climbing is when you get to come down! Being lowered is fun, and bouncing/hopping down the rocks makes the climb up worth it.Īfter everyone had a chance to climb, we then hiked up to the TOP of the wall, and got to rapell down. I also learned that I really need spanx if I'm going climbing, and not multiple layers of warm clothes, as harnesses are NOT flattering, LOL. She decided that was worth it, her Dad gave her some great pep talks, and she made it about 15 feet! I later saw her Dad in the thermal spa, and he said that little tumbled rock was the absolute hit of the cruise for the kids, and her siblings were so jealous that in the next port they had to buy tumbled rocks, but none were as good as the one she got. I asked her Dad if I could give her a special rock if she did it, and he said yes, so I told her I had a really pretty rock in her favorite color in my bag (I had all the colors) if she tried. Most of the adults only did one climb (I think 3 of us did 2.) so she was hesitant to try again. There was a little girl in our group, and she had a rough go on her first climb, only making it a few feet. Although on my second climb I had a hard time getting started and fell 3 times in the first foot.so that was fun, but then once I got going it went pretty well. Because we were on a top rope, falls were not really a problem, as you would fall just a few inches and then hang out until you were ready to catch the wall again. Only a few of the men made it to the top of the climbs, I got about 40 feet on my first climb and about 60 feet on my second.

No preset route, and quite honestly, despite the rocks looking very pocked, no obvious holds! By the end of each climb (I did two), my hands were thoroughly frozen.

The guides put us in our harnesses, belayed us, and coached a bit of 'try putting your hand to the left', but otherwise, it was 100% your own plan. It was still drizzling, so it was very wet. You could select any route you wanted to try. The climbing site was an approximately 70 foot wall, with about 12 fixed ropes. Then it was time to get helmets on, take a short hike, and then get harnesses and climbing shoes. We drove a short way to the rock climbing site (same as the zipline/challenge course site), while the guides told us a bit about the area. When the tour guides came to pick us up (and yes, they looked very outdoorsy) I found out there were only 10 people on the excursion. I could have not been more surprised with how the excursion went. I figured that this would be a very controlled experience, telling us exactly what to do, and a bit of a cattle drive, as shore excursions often are but as a solo and first timer in Alaska, decided to stick with the ship. I had chosen 'Rock Climb and Rappel' booked through NCL.

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