Rock climbing is a big passion of mine. I love coming home from school and going climbing with friends right after. To me it’s just more than a side thing; it’s a main hobby and therapy to me.
What is it?
Rock climbing is a sport where you climb rocks for hours on hours. Since I live in Miami, there isn’t anything natural, I can climb so I usually climb in a gym with plastic rocks. Once people start to climb, they decide what they want to do: bouldering or top roping.
Bouldering
Bouldering is where the routes are shorter, but they are so much harder than long climbs. These types of climbs don’t require any gear since they are short, so there is just a big mat at the bottom to break our fall.
Top Roping
Top roping isn’t my personal favorite, but this is a climb that goes super high up, and you have gear that stops you from free falling. Top roping has a lot of easier holds, but since the climbs are super long, you need a lot of endurance just to make it to the top.
Why is it fun?
About 6 months ago my friend’s birthday came up, and he invited me and other friends to go climbing. Ever since that day, I was hooked, and I wasn’t the only one. Every single person that went to the party also started to climb and still is.
Every time I go climb, I always have this resolve to complete a climb even if it takes 100+ attempts. There is no better feeling than leaving the gym knowing | hit something I would have never thought | could; that is what usually drives me to go climb
Why should people try it?
I think everyone should try climbing at least once in their life. I mean it’s super addicting. Climbing is fun, and it can also be a super good workout and makes someone ten times stronger in a couple of months. Because of that, my confidence has never been so high.
Recently I went to go hang out in my old geometry teacher’s class, and I found out he climbed in the same gym as me. He just had to stop for an injury before I started to climb.
Over all, climbing is just a positive thing, and it can make someone improve as a person mentally and physically. Even though climbing is a positive thing, there are negative things about it that climbers usually must deal with it.
For starters, every climber has super rough hands and a lot of flappers, which is where a layer of skin gets ripped off. If someone were to look at my hands, they would be super surprised at how they look ,but there are things you can do about it like buy cream to make your skin more durable and make it heal faster.
Another downside of climbing is the fact that climbing can be a little expensive, especially in Miami. Climbers usually need to buy a gym membership, climbing shoes, chalk, a chalk bag, etc.
Even though there are all these down sides I think climbing is 100% still worth it, no doubt in my mind.
