Tag: Climbing

This is a little story about my climbing journey

End of last year 2018 I was introduced to bouldering. I remember going up on a wall at Bayside Rock Climbing Gym while trying to hold tight on to weird holds. I was scared and my legs were kinda shaking. I tried to climb few more and I gave up, as I was not comfortable with the hanging situation. :’)

Do not get me wrong, I really liked it! however I tend to take things easy if I am not comfortable with what I am doing and I did exactly the same with this. Few weeks after I find myself climbing at free climbing walls around Melbourne. My interest towards climbing developed, and around end of December I bought my first climbing shoes.

Back then I was living in Coburg, and I found the outdoor climbing wall on Sydney road. Also tried out the Burnley Bouldering Wall in Richmond. Every week I went to these places to train or try out the walls. I was only able to do lower level climbs at this time and I was happy about it

One day while I was at the Burnley Wall, I meet this guy who’s tall, and was working on harder climb. So I started up a conversation with him. Then he told me about a new indoor climbing gym in Collingwood called Urban Climb. Around this time I was planning to move to Richmond and this sounded great, and I was really keen to try out the indoor climbing gym.

Thanks for that Chris!!! and the instructions you gave me that day for the purple climb which I was struggling with. You’ve been a great mentor and I am really glad that I met you that day. 🙂

Two months past by and I move to Richmond, visit Urban Climb Collingwood! I get like a 10 day free pass and I am at the gym like 3-4 days straight having a great time. This felt great as I was improving on my climbs and the lingo of the community. However it took me a while to understand what a send or a problem is :’)

After I finished my free pass I subscribed to a gym membership at Urban Climb. I think this was one of the best choices I made in 2019. Since then I have been at the gym least 2-3 days every week. After like 2 months I made a great set of friends at the climbing gym and in the climbing community. As a result I had the opportunity to take part in out door bouldering sessions and I absolutely loved it.

Around that time I was starting to get injured around my body especially my wrists and legs due to over use. I started seeing physio at Evolutio Sports Physio and taking care of my body. Thanks to Tiffany and Bayden I was able to understand, how to approach the injuries in a smarter way.

This was also the point where I started to realise that REST DAYS ARE IMPORTANT!

With all of these things happening around me, I was slowly getting physically fit and starting to understand my body and it’s limits. Around months of June and July 2019, I bought my 2nd pair of climbing shoes because the old ones were worn off. I guess its mainly because of bad technique and not taking care of the shoes properly.

Even though I had a new pair of shoes I tend to take it easy at the gym due to my injuries and slowly work my way up the problems. I would spend weeks on one problem, breaking it down and taking it slowly till I perfect it. I stayed away from too many dynamic moves and stick to static moves while solving problems.

Around this time I was engaging in harder problems and I am sending them! Booyah! I was happy and I really wanted to push myself a bit more. So I kept at it. In August I was able to get back in to intermediate level climbs at the gym (not breaking my body in the process), and I was really happy. Once in a while I would send high level problems depending on how my body feels.

As 2-3 more months past by and here I am gotten stronger, but my shoes were once again worn off. So I got a new pair! Maaan these shoes were expensive, but I think the latest pair I have is my favourite as it fits my feet perfectly! Actually its like 1.5 sizes lower than my actual foot size but I am in love! It took me like 10 days to get used to these new shoes as they were not the most comfortable things to wear. :’)

So now this is where I am at currently. 8 months in to bouldering with few injuries here and there and sending them problems.

Recently I was able to send a problem which I was working for like 2 weeks on and off and it made me realise how much I have grown and how much of an impact my interest towards climbing has made in my life.

At the start of 2019 I made a commitment and now only I have started to see the benefits. This has greatly improved both my physical and mental health. I am really glad that I got into climbing and it has slowly become a part of my life style. Special thanks to my climbing friends and the community for creating an amazing space for like minded individuals like me.

So for those who don’t know much about climbing or bouldering, a climb is known as a problem and it has taught me to face problems head on, take rest when needed and not to give up 🙂

Hopefully I’ll send a V8 in the future 😀