My First Time Climbing Indoors

Before Climbing …

In 2021 I was graduating from university. 2021 was a very challenging time for everyone. We were all in the midst of a Pandemic for a start and I was leaving university housing in my third year and struggling to hold onto university friendships. I had neglected my friendships from home when I was away in London and came home broke, lonely and weak.

Luckily someone told me to try climbing. I had always looked at the sport and wanted to try it. I was even on a waiting list for Southampton Climbing Wall NICAS when I was 13 but never took up the opportunity. I had been once or twice to Vauxwall with a university peer but that was about it. So upon their recommendation, I went along to Bouldershack Southampton.

Now, walking into a climbing wall on your own as an absolute punter is hard… There is no sugarcoating it. In the height of summer, the indoor bouldering bros are crushing, bare-chested and using a language I didn't understand. Drum and Bass bouncing round the plywood building and an eclectic group of people I wouldn’t have put all in the same room. It takes some getting used to. When I would leave the center with raw hands and solid forearms I would step into my metal box and cry. Release pent-up emotions, processing the overwhelming state of being in a brand new environment and being overstimulated by new interactions and space. It was hard.

The thing about Bouldershack which you don’t get at many corporate gyms was the instructors and employees that worked there at the time were so friendly and genuinely got to know you. They would meet you at reception with a beaming smile and remember your name on check-in, or ask you about that thing you spoke about several weeks prior.

I decided to start going at the same time every week. I chose Wednesdays at 17:00. This was to give me a routine at the start but I started to see the same faces at the same time each week. Climbing attracts a broad spectrum of people and more often than not they are really kind and stoked about life. I quickly got swept up into regularly climbing with a bunch of lovely folks.

After Climbing

Despite going weekly, each time leaving feeling exhausted and overwhelmed I felt challenged and in a light corner of myself I felt at home. Going away to live in London I expected to find my people. Instead, I had found them in a dodgy part of my hometown in an industrial estate…

Climbing brought me self-esteem and empowerment. Something I was seriously lacking at the time and it was desperately needed. Probably a key reason why I found the initial interactions so mentally challenging.

Climbing brought me Friendship. Talking to like-minded people and learning together through routes is a euphoric feeling, the idea that you could walk into a gym anywhere in the world and have common ground with someone that goes beyond language is incredible.

Climbing helped me develop as a problem solver. Throughout my degree, I had a very clear solution-only attitude which was positive in some cases but crippling when I couldn’t find the solution. Climbing helped me visualise people completing problems in VERY different ways… what might help one person get to the top may not be my way and that is ok.

Not long after my weekly visits, a job came up at the wall and I secretly applied. I ended up working there for nearly 2 years and it gave me the experience to pursue qualifications in coaching and instructing. Working there gave me my first chance to endeavor my outdoor and instructing career. That first climb on a Wednesday afternoon changed the direction of my life…