OGDEN — McKinley Sadler reaches for the small pink plastic hand hold that stretches her tiny 6-year-old body to the limit.
Her father stands below her, holding the rope that will keep her airborne should she fall, and suggests a place for her right foot. She follows his advice, pulls herself higher on the wall. A smile spreads across her face as she approaches the top of the route in The Front Climbing Gym in Ogden.
After she belays down the face of the wall, she announces she'd like to do it again.
"OK, but now it's Summit's turn," said her father, Trevor Sadler.
McKinley and Summit scale the wall with relative ease because both are used to climbing with their father on real rock walls in Ogden Canyon.
"This is their first time in a gym," said Trevor Sadler. "This is a lot better for them. When you're climbing outside, sometimes there is a long distance between holds."
Inside the Front's new gym in Ogden there is also no wind, rain or bugs to deter the children ages 6 and 3 — from obtaining their goals. For their father, it's training for when they're a little older and they can hold the rope for him.
"They have to (enjoy it)," he said smiling at them. "They're going to be my climbing partners when they get older."
McKinley reassures him, "It's fun to rock climb."
The Front Climbing Gym has been open for about two months and offers serious climbers a place to train in the winter, as well as a safe place for newcomers to learn the sport. The new gym is in a stunning older building with huge windows and climbing walls from floor to ceiling. There is also a yoga studio, cardio training area, pro shop and a large bouldering area. (www.frontogden.com) The Front Gym in Salt Lake City only has bouldering walls, but the Ogden gym is designed for competitive hikers and novices alike.
The gym's manager, Shane Bryson, began climbing with his friends as a teenager.
"There were no gyms at the time," said the 32-year-old Layton High grad. "The challenge was enticing … We just went out and taught ourselves. It was a great way to relieve stress and forget our problems."
Bryson gravitated to bouldering, which for those unfamiliar with the sport, involves climbing without ropes.
"It is more technical and aggressive," he said. "It requires powerful, strong moves. There are no ropes, no harness. It's just your shoes, a bag of chalk and a challenge."
It is also unforgiving if a climber falls.
While he has never sustained serious injuries, he's had friends who've been hurt. One thing a gym offers those who love to boulder is a place to practice holds, moves and strategy with a mat to cushion the fall. It also allows climbers to get stronger before they have to take on a rock face AND mother nature.
"Inside you can really push yourself," he said. "You can try things, push to the limit because of the pads."
Ogden preparatory teacher Sam Hayman uses the gym to teach his students how to love nature by enjoying it. The Montana native teaches environmental science, earth science and biology and offered an after-school class to his students at the charter school in hopes of enhancing their education.
"Stewardship of the outdoors is really important to me," he said. "Climbing, being outside, it's one of the outdoor sports that can teach stewardship."
He said it also helps students develop many other helpful habits.
"There are so many aspects to it," he said. "Fear, heights, safety … It requires complete devotion to what you're doing. It's a completely different type of discipline than any other sport."
It's exercise; its engaging; it teaches them to push past perceived limits; and if they choose to participate in the climbing team, which Hayman also coaches, they learn about competition.
Having the gym in which to teach students makes it easier and safer.
"We can focus on just the climb," he said. "They can get really strong and develop actual climbing skills … They can get really solid with their skills and strength before we get them outside."
And outside is really where climbing becomes a sport.
Maggie Smith, who teaches the gym's yoga classes, enjoyed a lot of sports and activities until her mother bought her a present to help her conquer a fear of heights.
"My 28th birthday my mom bought me a lesson and a day of climbing," said the Michigan native.
She loved the sport so much it is now both her vocation and her recreation.
"I climb," she said. "I spend all my energy, effort climbing. It holds the highest degree of motivation."
Like many climbers, Smith is drawn to the fact that it requires a commitment of body and mind.
"The act of climbing is so engaging and requires a level of focus that doesn't allow you to think about much except the movement of your body," Smith said. "It's the same as yoga; mentally it's all about the task at hand, being in the moment. When you're actively climbing, you really cannot think about anything other than what you're doing at that moment."
And while it is mentally engaging, it is also physically challenging.
"It's full body," she said. "You can't leave any part of your physical being out of it."
Even when a person climbs the same rock face, it is a different experience.
"There is always another challenge," she said.
It is also a refuge.
For people who seem to constantly split their attention between electronic devices and human interaction, trying to pull their bodies up a rock face can be just the escape they need.
"It does teach them about having to focus, about eliminating distractions," she said. "For a lot of people, it offers a huge amount of stress relief."