There’s been a call at Metatalk to have an Austin Metafilter meet-up, and the idea presented was to go rock climbing at Enchanted Rock. “Cool,” I thought. I love going up Enchanted Rock, and I haven’t been in a few years. I could combine going to visit my mom with meeting some of the Austin Mefi people on something that resembles home territory for me. But then the person says an instructor could be gotten, training could be had, and equipment could be rented, and I am left wondering exactly what kind of rock climbing we are talking about. I’m certain there are some places out there where actual hard-core rock climbing can be done, the sort that requires training and equipment, but I have pretty much crawled all over that rock since 5th grade, and not once have I ever used any equipment other than a good pair of shoes and my own muscles. If the point is to get to the top of the rock for the awesome view and to spend time hanging out with friends, there are easier and better ways to accomplish that than spending a lot of money and tempting death doing crazy climbs. It’s an enjoyable outing, and thousands of people who know far less about the place and about rock climbing than I do tramp up the rock on a regular basis.

Anyway, either the person suggesting it doesn’t know that special training and equipment is far from a requirement for climbing the rock, or they just want to get their extreme sports fix. I think if they settle on that plan, I might go out anyway … and meet them at the top. I could do with a good sunburn. I have never been out there and not gotten a good sunburn, even while wearing SPF 9000 sunscreen.