Why is climbing so addictive? ⭐️

Can you remember how you were first introduced into climbing?

Most commonly people are introduced to the sport at a climbing gym, nowadays a much smaller majority of people find themselves starting out on the rock, due to the vast number of accessible indoor gyms.

For me I was introduced to the sport quite late in turns of age (I say this because most people I know start the sport much earlier in their teens or even before), I was 24. A friend asked me to join him at a local climbing gym, not far from where I lived in London called “The Castle Climbing Center”. Little did I realise the impact entering through that door would have on my life and the vast change of path it would take from that very moment.

At 24, fresh out of university, I was living and working full time in London. I’ll be honest, like most twenty year olds who have not found their calling, I felt a little lost in this new big city. So when I opened the gigantic wooden doors at ‘The Castle Climbing Centre’ and released a cloud of white chalk into my face, admittedly I was pretty intimidated. The noise of a thousand children ran through the corridors, people scurrying left and right. It seemed like chaos. I remember my first boulder problem too, green holds, complete jugs, I climbed fairly easy and naturally to the top and then stopped and my friend said “now put both your hands on the last hold, and you're done,” I obliged. “Now you can either jump or climb down” I paused, my body froze, I looked down and thought to myself ‘...really….are you kidding…’

Yes, you guessed it, I had no idea how to get down, my mind swirled back and forth and suddenly this challenge seemed a lot harder than the upwards climbing part... after some time I climbed safety to the ground.

I believe this sport is somewhat special but I guess I am biased. Dangling on rocks (or in my case predominantly falling), trying to find the hardest sections and attempting to climb up them. Admittedly this is not everyone's cup of tea. So you are probably beginning to wonder “how did a day like the one described above, create a climbing addict?”

Well I have wondered this myself for a while, so, recently I questioned a few climbers in my community to get their two pennies on the matter. And it would seem the addiction to climbing is somewhat similar to a drug addiction, it rarely happens overnight, there are stages, with casual, recreational use and then overuse turning into complete dependency.

Jorge explained it clearly to me here:

“At first I remember that I did not like it too much but little by little I was going more and more, until the moment I was totally fanatic with this sport.”

-- @jorge.diazrullo

So let’s take a deep dive into some of the reasons why climbers, like me, are so roped into this sport.

A. The challenge

All climbers share a commonality, we all enjoy a challenge. If we didn’t there is no way in hell that any of us would put our bodies into these awkward positions, it’s not a sport for the faint hearted that’s for sure.

“Emotions of pressure, panic, freedom, strength or weakness combined are an addictive mix”

-- @gslauura

We want to be tested and that’s exactly what climbing does, it not only tests and challenges your physical abilities but your mental too. A friend last week reminded me of one of the most beautiful aspects of climbing.

“It does not matter what grade you climb, no matter the style you wish to climb, as the challenge is equal and the same for everyone”.

At first I didn’t understand this, and I asked him to explain, he said:

“the challenge we face when we climb, is with ourselves.”

-- @emilianramos_climb

B. Movement

When we begin climbing, most of us start with lock offs and no grace, enviously eye

balling your partner next to you who just walked up your project, as if it was a well rehearsed dance. We learn subtle tricks to teach our bodies to make every movement a little bit more fluid, a little bit easier, and this makes you think that you too are becoming a little more ‘dancy’ on the rocks.

“It’s incredible that we can do what a lizard does!”

-- @hels_Kitchen

C. Culture and Community

There’s so much more to climbing than just climbing. There is a culture and community behind the

sport which is global. The more time we spend climbing our chances are heavily increased in becoming submerged into it. Like every community it varies from place to place - however the fundamentals stay the same, i.e. train hard, climb hard and have fun along the way. For me, I have seen clear evidence of this, having moved between three countries since I started climbing and in each country I have been able to find a “second home” in each of the gyms or crags.

For those who rock climb outside too, the culture is heavily embraced with the feeling of freedom of being outside in nature, which you would never have stumbled upon unless you were a climber.

“Climbing is my life now, I couldn’t imagine not climbing”

-- @prudenceemw

That being said climbing is rapidly growing in popularity in recent years and with this the community too. It’s important we all do our part in keeping this culture and community for both ourselves and nature.

You can actually read more about how you can help here.

D. Lifestyle

It's a way of living and breathing, people can make as much or little of the climbers lifestyle as they wish. And slowly you’ll notice a change from wearing crag clothes just at

the crag to everyday life. Of course this is different for everyone and dependent on other activities or variables we have in our lives.

As a lifestyle it will come with some sacrifice and you will only ever get as much as you put into it. For example, if you want to climb hard, you need to train a lot, which could lead to late nights or very early mornings, if you are trying to hold up a regular 40 hour weekday job too.

The definition of lifestyle means something different for each of us. For some it's living out of the van spending everyday possible on the rock, for others we spend time juggling between two realities.

No matter the balance, there is one constant thing that remains across all climbers - we are all trying to maximise our climb time, be it at the rock or the gym, because as climbers, this is where we belong and this is what we love to do.

Back to the question, ‘Why is climbing so addictive?’ Well, my friend answered it better than me…

“Hmmm… because I have an addictive personality, hehe!”

-- @Tommy.meacham

Thanks to all the fellow climbers that helped contribute to this blog post ⭐️

@Climbs_for_Pennys