How did you start rock climbing? Was it hard for you to transition from one type of climbing to another as you progressed? I remember when I was young, I considered myself a rock climber without any knowledge of an actual rock climbing sport. I did what I would now recognize as scrambling and really easy bouldering. I would climb all over boulders and cliffs at the beach. Sometimes they were steep and dangerous free solos for my age and experience, and sometimes they were V fun level. I was introduced to climbing because I happen to mention my love of rock climbing, thinking that was what I was doing, to someone who actually rock climbed. This friend was someone who had been competition climbing and traveling the world to climb since she was six. She had been sponsored by different companies and part of a climbing team. She started talking to me about rock climbing, and though we quickly discovered we had not been thinking of it the same way, she offered to teach me. We started in an indoor gym. At first this was a huge adjustment to me. For one thing, I didn’t understand why there were climbing shoes. I had always done all my “climbing” barefoot. Since it was a gym; a plastic space filled with germs, I didn’t question the shoes too much though. I also was surprised there were places to climb inside. It was not rock, so how was it rock climbing? It felt weird and awkward at first, but I kept trying and loved it. It was fun to be with a group of friends and share an enjoyable weekly experience. I had no idea how much I loved it until my friends had gone separate ways and I was left without a climbing partner. I started to miss it, and after a while of not doing, desperately searched for a way to meet partners. I didn’t know one, so I made my own. This whole time I had been climbing in the gym. Then I started to meet people who wanted to go outdoor climbing. This logically made more sense to me, and the mental connection with being in nature was much easier to obtain and understand. I was excited to get outside. Honestly, I thought back to my experiences getting into indoor climbing and naively thought “I will be much better outside because that’s where I really started.” When I got on my first cliff, it was not nearly as easy as what I remembered as a kid. Mostly because there is a big difference between what I was doing and what rock climbing actually is. Partly because there is a difference between what is required indoors and outdoors. In scrambling up boulders as a kid, you are not reading routes. Therefore, my skills with knowing routes had been learned in the gym. I wonder if I had been introduced to actual rock climbing as an outdoor boulderer if things would have been different, but I don’t regret any of it. I loved the climbing I did, everywhere I did it. For me personally, it was an adjustment going indoors and an adjustment going outdoors, but both are worth it. I love rock climbing. Even though I felt like an idiot for saying my scrambling and easy boulders were climbing when I found out what is really considered rock climbing, I’m glad I made that mistake because it led me to where I am now and that’s a place I really enjoy. I know some people transition super easily from one type of climbing to the next. That is wonderful. For those who don’t, don’t be discouraged. It is fun learning and adjusting. It is also completely doable. It just takes time, practice, and patience. Some may need more or less than others.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 20:11:16 +0000
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