Like a rock star

Learning the ropes in Acadia

Kelly Brannon, left, 26, discusses with 10-year-old Victoria Edwards the “hard” climb Victoria just conquered on Otter Cliffs, overlooking Sand Beach and the Atlantic Ocean, while they watch Valerie Edwards attempt the climb. Brannon, from Canada, and the Edwards, from Indiana, were vacationing for the first time in Maine and said of the state, “It’s gorgeous.” HOLLY BARBER PHOTOS

Jeff Butterfield was only 16 years old when he first, so to speak, hit the rocks. He was taking lessons from local climber Michael Hatrich outside of North Conway, N.H. -- a mecca for climbing enthusiasts -- and the memory, he says, is still perfectly clear.

By Matt Shaer

     “[There] was an emphasis on methodical, almost cat-like movement,” Butterfield said. “It looked more like someone flowing up the rock.”

     Later, Butterfield would leave the east coast for the legendary crags of Colorado, Utah and California, but the memory of that first instructed climb stayed with him. Some 30 years later, he now owns Atlantic Climbing School, which teaches Maine residents and visitors of all ages how to get on the rocks for the first time.

     “I ask my guides to recall their own initial climbing experiences -- the trepidation a beginner often feels before a course, the hesitation that comes in a new, challenging situation,” Butterfield said. “I ask them to remember these experiences so they can both emphasize with their clients and orchestrate an experience for them that is meaningful, safe and fun.”

     Indeed, rock climbing on Mount Desert Island and the surrounding areas -- well-known internationally for its scenic vistas and challenging climbs -- is such an immensely popular pastime for many summer residents of Down East Maine that today, two climbing schools, Atlantic Climbing School and Acadia Mountain Guides, cater nearly year-round to visitors of all abilities.

Atlantic Climbing School guide Kevin Herbig rigs up another climbing station for a group of adolescents from the Bucksport area. The morning of climbing at Otter Cliffs was the first rock climbing experience for many in the group.

     This summer may be the perfect time to take a big leap -- so to speak -- and get onto the rock. You might learn something about yourself, or your entire family.

     “Every climbing lesson is different, and tailored to the clients,” Jon Tierney, owner of Acadia Mountain Guides says of the family learning experience. “Some schools don’t allow their students to belay” -- the technique, in short, used to keep climbers safe -- “but we encourage our students to do it, because it creates trust and a great family dynamic can be explored. The teenager who always has to rely on the parent -- now it’s reversed, and the teenager gets a lot more self-esteem,” he added. “It’s a great sport for families.”

     Tierney, who helped found the immensely popular Maine Bound outdoor program at the University of Maine, and has been guiding in Maine since the ‘80s, runs his guiding and instruction program year-round -- in the summer season he climbs out of Bar Harbor, in the winter and fall he is based in Orono, at his school’s permanent location.

     Butterfield’s Atlantic Climbing School has also been a Down East staple since its inception 10 years ago, and has now expanded to include more guiding services, a larger course selection, and a bevy of true rock experience.

     Both schools offer a wide array of both half-day and full-day classes for families and individuals, and both are perfect for aspiring climbers who have only ventured of digging their hands (and feet) onto a big slab of East Coast rock.

Jeff Butterfield talks with Valerie Edwards, 17, to give her an idea of what her next climb over the ocean will look like.

     Both schools have friendly guides and rotating schedules of various seminars.

     Both schools are headed by experienced climbers.

     So what’s the problem?

     Not much -- except for that pesky fear of heights that you’ve been hiding in your closet for 30-some odd years. But don’t worry.

     You’re not alone.

     “There are several common fears shared by many first-time climbers, but one is, ‘what if I do something wrong?’” Butterfield says. “Mix in a little height, an unfamiliar environment and a pile of strange-looking climbing gear and rope and many folks experience a diminished ability to absorb much in the way of new information.

     Retention is at its lowest when a person is under stress.” But, Butterfield stresses, this is “meant to be a ‘test drive’ -- light on instruction, heavy on experience.”

Your first climb: What to expect

     If the closest you’ve ever been to real rock is a Friday night showing of that awful Sylvester Stallone classic “Cliffhanger” (Try Clint Eastwood’s “The Eiger Sanction” instead), you’re in for a bit of a shock.

     For one, you won’t be dropping in or climbing up anything without a rope, an experienced professional, and a thick helmet (not necessarily in that order). Also, you won’t have to wear those dorky tights Sly likes so much -- you can bring loose-fitting gym clothes to your first lesson, and all equipment will be provided for you.

     Furthermore, you’ll be climbing in a place where you, or your whole family, feel comfortable.

Grace Fitzgerald pulls herself up one face of Otter Cliffs, a frequented rock climbing site in Acadia National Park. Having already tried a small indoor climbing wall, Fitzgerald confesses, “I feel safer climbing up a rock than a wall.”

     “We can find terrain that everyone will be successful on,” Tierney says. “I also tell our staff that it’s our job to help people be successful. Climbing is cool in that you’ll always be able to find routes of various difficulty in the same spot.”

     After arriving at the cliff -- early-ish for morning classes, so be ready to set your alarm clock -- you’ll settle in, excuse the pun, to learn the ropes.

     “At the cliff, we spend enough time introducing a client to the safety system so that they feel safe, but we don’t try to overload them with information,” Butterfield says. “We feel that the focus -- in this type of course, anyway -- should be on imparting enough information so that the client feels safe, then moving right along to the actual climbing. If it happens that because of this course a client gets bit by the climbing bug, then they have a whole series of intensive instructional courses in their future so that they can acquire the knowledge and skills they will need in order to climb safely,” he went on. “But for the first-timer, that’s still a couple of chapters away.”

     Depending on the course and how comfortable you feel -- sometimes it takes a little while -- full day and half days courses can go in just about any direction from there. From learning footwork, to practicing flexibility, to challenging yourself on some higher level climbs, the sky is most definitely the limit.

     “I suppose there is an element of the population to whom I could simply say, ‘Hey, just trust me, it works.’ And off we go,” Butterfield says. “But most thinking people want a basic understanding of just how I intend to keep them safe. My first job is to help them to learn to trust the system, so that later they can focus their energies on the climbing.”

The nuts and bolts

     So, you’ve decided you’re ready to take the first step.

     But where to start?

     The first thing you’ll need to do is make a reservation with one of the two climbing schools in Down East Maine (Acadia Mountain Guides also occasionally leads climbs in the greater Camden and Clifton area and both schools are relatively flexible in terms of customer requests).

     You’ll want to log on, before you do anything else, to AcadiaMountainGuides.com or AcadiaClimbing.com (home of Atlantic Climbing School). Each Web site will offer you more in terms of logistics for exploring the details of your first climb. Allow yourself a week or so in advance during peak months (July and August) before settling on a date. “Walk-ins” can be accommodated by both schools, but reservations are strongly recommended.

     For information call Acadia Mountain Guides at 288-8186, www.acadiamountainguides.com or Atlantic Climbing School at 288-2521, www.acadiaclimbing.com