Rock Climbing in Saitama - Nov 3rd

Today I finally decided to go rock climbing. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I met a cool guy named Sousha (originally from California) that belongs to the Waseda Expedition Club. Over the past 50 years, this club has literally travelled the world, doing all sorts of neat outdoorsy stuff. Last year, they went to Bolivia and Madagascar for 沢登 (riverbed/waterfall hiking/climbing). This year's trip is ice-climbing in Greenland. While I can't really afford to participate in any more globe-trotting, several members of the group are into rock climbing, and even go off and on to the Pump in Saitama. I've been to the one in Kokubunji, west of Tokyo last year, and I hear that the one in Kawaguchi is much larger and even has a top-rope and lead-climbing wall. I went to the club meeting to introduce myself and see if anyone was interested in going. Everyone was seemingly impressed with me, and although they weren't able to make it out this week due to weekend hiking and camping plans in Gunma, they took a raincheck.

Determined to at least check out the climbing gym, I looked at the website and their convoluted maps, trying to figure out the best way to get there. Yukiko helped me figure out a train route, and even walked me to a nearby station and showed me a good spot to park my bike for a few hours. I got to Ikebukuro, and from there, took the Saikyo line to Akabane, then switched over to the Keihin-Touhoku line to Kawaguchi. I arrived at the station and checked the snapshot of the online map I had taken with my camera. Unable to really make sense of things, partially due to the fact that I was standing on a huge above-ground walkway. In a way, I was reminded of Osaka's overhead crosswalks, where performing artists would compete to see who could draw a larger crowd.

Finally picking a direction, I shot off towards the NTT broadcasting tower; a landmark on the map. Confident that I was headed the right way, I followed the map to the small river, where things stopped making sense. I crossed the river and found myself in a quiet, abandoned suburban neighborhood. After about 10 minutes, I realized that I was in the wrong place, and doubled back. With the help of a friendly local, I realized that the poor depiction of the landscape on the map was in fact telling me to FOLLOW alongside the river. After a few minutes of compliance, the gym came into view.

It wasn't much on the outside, but neither is Pipeworks. I went inside and was greeted by the familiar sights and smells of climbing gyms; musk and shoes that don't fit, white chalky handprints everywhere, and walls crammed with holds of every shape and size, the bottom half of which blackened by a thick layer of shoe sole residue, rubbed off by months of climbers. I removed my shoes at the genkan and went to the office, where I learned that the registration fee I paid last year in Kokubunji was only good for that gym; I'd have to re-register here. Figuring I'd be back, and I'd come too far to turn back now, I grudgingly paid the 1500 yen on top of the daily fee, which surprisingly includes free shoe and harness rental. I went up to the second floor, which is bouldering only, and jumped on the wall.

It's certainly different from the stuff back home. Unfortunately, the walls are painted wood, and not textured like the holds. This makes smearing much more difficult (in an annoying way). The holds are familiar, but the arrangements are sometimes odd. I did alright for the day, considering I hadn't climbed in about 2 months, but I didn't pump myself out quite like I did back home. I headed back around 4pm, since I had plans to meet up with Megan, Sheryl and their Yokohama Posse for drinks at the Hub.

I made my way home and headed out for baba. I met up with Megan and Sheryl a few other students from Yokohama; Davina (London), Josh (San Diego), and David (Georgia). We headed over to the Hub, and met up with Hans. There was a group trip to El Torito planned by Bob, and I went to the rotary to see who was coming. Only Francesca had shown up, as Bob had apparently fallen suddenly ill. I took her back to the Hub to see if there was anything we could do to salvage the evening, but she was aloof and finally left, saying "I don't know any of these people, bye." Wow.

Megan had stepped outside to talk on the phone with someone or another; I was keeping in touch with Jill, who was organizing a group to go to a club or two in Shibuya. We all headed over and met up with her at Hachiko, and went to the first club, a little hip-hop hole in the ground that's apparently popular with foreigners. Hans and Georgia David and a couple others didn't like the atmosphere, so they went back up to get some air and something to eat. The club was more like my bedroom if it were underground and had its own bar. The place was so cramped that the path from the entrance to the bar took you right past the dart board, at which a fat creepy looking white guy was chucking real (pointy metal) darts. We lined up to the bar, but Jill and Heather were still in harms way of the dart players. The fat guy walked up to them and just stared without saying a word, apparently confident that his creepiness would drive them away, which it did.

The vibe wasn't all that great, so we had a drink or two and left. Megan had been sulking in a corner, as she said, and I quote, "I don't like being around this many foreigners." If that's not the pot calling the kettle black... She wanted to take purikura, so we split from the Waseda crew, who were headed to another bar/club. We took a couple sets of purikura before they all said they needed to head back to Yokohama before the last train. We found Georgia David in a coffee shop with Hans and his friends, but he had decided that he was going to stick around and go to Disney Land the next day with them. The Yokohama folks said their goodbyes and took off, and I met back up with Jill, Heather and Tracey, at a place I later learned was the "bigger" Gas Panic in Shibuya. We had fun talking and dancing a bit, but I'm a white guy, so we all know how badly that turns out. We hustled back to the station to catch the trains back; some of us were a bit luckier than the others.