Get to know me, and the blog!
Hey there! Welcome to Rock Climbing Rookies. My name is Logan Thaler. I am a 21 year old going to school in Farmville, Virginia; but living in Richmond, Virginia. I am originally from right outside of New York City, where I surprisingly was able to start my love and admiration for the outdoors, and the extreme. At a very young age I enjoyed the adrenaline rush your body gets from being in places you aren’t necessarily supposed to. This was all thanks to my parents.
My parents really pressured us to spend as much time in nature as possible. My parents when they dated rock climbed, and during mine and my older sisters’ younger days they would drag us either to the climbing gym or crag.
Fun Fact: the chalk bag that I use to this very day I actually first used to carry my parent's wedding rings down the aisle back in 2001.
I loved every second of it, but as we got older; my parents climbed much less, and it became almost impossible to get me ever to go climbing. Not until a few years ago when I took up the job as a rock climbing instructor at a camp in the Shenandoah Valley. I was climbing everyday, and getting the opportunity to teach the youngsters and see them progress. One of the guys I worked with, Max, was an avid climber, and was a great friend to make to help me make the progression into becoming a much better climber.
Then in the winter/spring of 2019 I took a trip to Thailand were I lived there for about 4 months. While there I had an incredible amount of free time, and I spent much of it in Bangkok climbing in the local gym there. I also did a lot of outdoor climbing here too. I started to spend my weekends island hopping and on the hunt for new climbing opportunities . I became really keen to continuously visit Ao Nang and Ton Sai.
I was being able to put myself in positions that very few people have been, and been able to see landscapes only those who went there could see. It was an emotion that really stuck with me as I returned back to the states.
I begun climbing everyday after work and started to progressive very fast. I spent all of my free time either at the crag, gym, or spending time watching videos on Rock and Ice. I went out and climbed with Max much more often, and was able to even get some of my first accents. Being able to be the first people to touch rock that might have never been touched by a human before is such a humbling experience. As I progressed more in the sport I was able to finally get my parents back out and onto the rock. All though they were not climbing everything they used to climb, they were still having a blast, and it was also just awesome to be able to enjoy a passion with both of your parents.
I really want to write this blog to help people fall in love with such an amazing sport. I want it to be an inspiration to go and try out your local rock wall, or maybe find a random group of guys to hike out to a crag. The memories you make climbing are forever. There is never not a climb I can not remember. Everything is blocked out of your mind, and the only thing you are worrying about is your climb. It is truly a zen experience. I want all ages to get something from this. Maybe you're a kid in high school and can’t find something you're into, climbing will be there for you. Maybe you're a college student who can’t play the sport the used to, climbing will be there for you. Or maybe you just need something new and exciting in your life, climbing will be there for you.