I have a terrible fear of falling, plummeting to my doom and splatting against the ground at such a force that I explode. Roller coasters where my feet dangle off the edge give me heart palpitations and leave my heart sitting at the base of my stomach. Treetop trekking has me shaking as I jump from obstacle to obstacle and stepping ladders have me shuddering with the anticipation of falling. So naturally, I have become a passionate rock climber in the past year and a half. Pre-pandemic, I frequented The Hub climbing at least 5 days a week. An achy back, sore forearms, and a core on fire are all but a few symptoms of being a climber. Now there are different types of climbing; harness climbing and bouldering are the kinds I am familiar with. Harness climbing is simple, of course, you can slip and fall but there’s that harness, that rope keeping you safe. Bouldering, however, is a completely different story. I get halfway up a wall and my fear of falling kicks in; I can’t tell if it’s my adrenaline or the nervousness causing my hands to shake. Bouldering has no ropes, its 12 – 15 feet high walls with varying degrees of difficulty. Despite all the fear and the nervousness, the sense of accomplishment when reaching the top of a wall is beyond no other feeling. Ask anyone who boulders, they say not having the rope when they climb gives them a sense of accountability, an artificial situation of life or death, with mission impossible Tom Cruise vibes.
However, I have not always been interested in going rock climbing, but my boyfriend has been begging me for the past 2 years to go with him and I finally gave in last fall. And I must admit, I wish I agreed to go sooner. Rock climbing allows for progression to be seen, it allows for strength to be built up and confidence to surge. I had no idea my body was capable of completing half of the climbing routes I have attempted, and I must admit I am quite proud each time I reach the top of a climb. I have had my fair share of falls; my hand or foot slips and I make hard contact with the padded floor of the climbing gym. I simply shake out any tension make sure I didn’t break anything (I am prone to injury, 3 concussions, broken toes, fingers, and ankles, it’s no longer a surprise when I injure myself) and approach the same wall again, determined not to fall – I probably fall again – but this process keeps repeating until I get to the top.