EXERCISE EXPLORER, MD: Indoor climbing
In keeping with my premise that exercise is better with a buddy, I recently joined Aaron Drapeau after work at Coeur Climbing Company in Post Falls. Aaron is a nurse practitioner and one of our newer providers at Ironwood Family Practice, so it was a great chance for me to get to know him better and try out our area's newest climbing gym.
Aaron grew up right here in North Idaho and started climbing in college in the Rec Center at the University of Idaho. When he moved home after graduating he started climbing outdoors at Q'emiln Park with a group of friends and even introduced his brother to the sport and joined a climbing club. However, as life got busy with work and family (he and his wife Jasmine have three daughters ages 6, 4 and 2), he took a break from climbing and admitted that he hasn’t gone in a few years. But now that his daughters are getting old enough, he’d love to introduce them to the sport and he even bought them a climbing harness.
After arriving at Coeur Climbing Company, which is tucked behind the outlet malls in Post Falls, and changing into shorts and climbing shoes, we met Dan Shaw, one of the owners, to take a tour and try it out. The gym is bright and spacious with over 6,000 square feet of climbing surfaces including 24-foot-high roped walls and bouldering walls up to 15 feet high. The colorful routes are clearly marked by degree of difficulty and changed often so that climbing regulars will not get bored. In fact, cleaning the holds and route setting is a full-time job for the dedicated staff. For advanced climbers, there’s a Moon Board which connects with your phone to light up different patterns and has over 20,000 different routes!
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