But if the by-the-seat-of-your pants adrenaline that comes with clinging to the side of a rock face does pique your interest, we're here to help you get started.

And the first thing you need to learn is how to hook into a harness; without that, chances are you'll end up with those broken bones we were talking about. To make sure you get it right, we've enlisted Larry Moore, a rock climbing instructor at Vail Athletic Club, to break down the basics of hooking into a harness in this week's video lesson.

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See the "Nitty Gritty" video gallery here: http://asap.ap.org/data/interactives/_sports/nittygrittylibrary/

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John Marshall is asap's sports reporter, based in Denver.

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