I would consider myself an admirer of Technical Climbing and Mountaineering. I did a few weeks of serious climbing in the Ozarks with the boy Scouts when I was in High School and I have been interested ever since. However, given my weight most of my life, that I live in Kansas, and that I having a size 17 shoe makes toe holds difficult, I don't get much opportunity to participate.

I've done some climbing wall stuff at the local YMCA (100 ft). Not sure more muscle is what you need, but you most certainly need to be cut. From my experience your shoulders and core should be the things to work on. There's one pitch on this climbing tower I can't get over because my core can't move the rest of me "up". Being lighter helps too.

As for Mountaineering; Like you mentioned not all mountains require technical climbing. In fact, most are really long hikes at altitude. It sounds deceptively easy. I’ve summited 2 of the 14ers in Colorado and all that was required was a day pack and a fleece/jacket/sweater and a determination to put one foot in front of the other when you get tired.

If that’s something you want to get into I would search for climbing gyms in Omaha or Des Moines to get started and get an idea of what you’re in for.

Since you like to plan trips there’s two websites I use to research mountains if I think I want to “climb” something. http://www.14ers.com/ - Lots of resources if you’re headed to Colorado. Everywhere else, check out: www.summitpost.org

Happy Climbing

I would definitely suggest starting with your local indoor climbing gym. While weighing less does help to make the maneuvers a bit easier, increase your endurance, and in my case improve your confidence, you don't need to be a certain weight to start climbing. Climbing is hard for most people at first, regardless of weight, as it uses a lot of muscles that we don't use on a regular basis. I have seen countless individuals who look like they are in great shape struggle with even the most basic routes when they first start, as well as people who have started over weight and lost quite a bit through rock climbing (unfortunately that does not include myself, lol). I have found that the most important thing, with rock climbing in particular, is to have confidence and just keep trying.

Also scrambling and being out of breath are completely normal. And at least with all the rock climbing I have been exposed to you never really climb down the route, so don't hold yourself to that expectation. Even with bouldering, which in a lot of ways is actually much harder than top roping, you usually drop out or walk off and don't have to figure out how to climb down the route.