There you are, standing in the shadow of a colossal wall littered with teetering boulders and jagged stones. Your eyes drift upwards while studying the surface for any available orifices to aid in your climb.

Hands chalked and body harnessed, the ascent is commenced. Scaling the first few feet proves easier than expected, but soon fatigue begins rapping at each and every muscle, hoisting your body to the next notched groove.

Your weight becomes cumbersome, but the peak is near, and with a last surge, you muster your might and spring to the top in triumph, declaring your achievement.

Employee Brad Gauthier demonstrates how to climb upside down on the tunnel wall. (Staff Photo by Chad Ruiz)

In southeast Louisiana this may seem farfetched with its immense flatlands and sultry swamps, but there is a little place in Slidell that can grant your wish and turn you into a modern-day Spiderman.

Slidell Rocks at 39543 U.S. Highway 190 E., otherwise known as Fremaux Avenue, is the only climbing gym in southeast Louisiana and possibly only one of three gyms of its kind in the entire state, with the other two located in Lafayette.

Senior Program Analyst Charlie Ritter, along with wife, Donna, owners of Lion’s Den Karate for the past 10 years, decided one day he wanted to create something different yet physically satisfying. Slidell Rocks was born.

Armed with 228 sheets of plywood, 17,000 T-Nuts and buddies Matt Hebert and Tony Garcia, a wall was built. And then another and another went up until the facility they own today was created.

Most of the walls, adorned with grooved pegs resembling natural rocks, top out at 40 feet high inside the large metal building.

They vary in difficulty, starting with a set of training walls that only reach 16 feet in height, sloped walls, flat walls, uneven walls, protruding walls, corner walls, ceiling walls and even a tunnel wall.

The walls are located in their 5,000-square-foot facility, which also holds the karate studio.

The wall area floor is blanketed with thick plastic mats that serve as a cushion and are also easy to keep free of germs.

The structure also boasts an array of ropes fastened to devices in the ceiling and floor to assist in belaying, someone who remains on the ground and controls the rope as it is fed to the climber.

Ritter said the big plus with rock climbing is the exercise.

“Rock climbing and swimming are said to be the only activities that involve every individual muscle,” he said.

The facility opened in 2005 just before Katrina and, after sustaining significant water damage, Ritter and his crew reopened the gym in December the same year.

Since then, Ritter has acquired a 25-foot mobile rock wall available for rent for different functions. In fact, it was recently set up at the Slidell Air Show.