Rock Climbing the Sport for Not Sporty People.
Growing up I never classified rock climbing as a sport. It was always a fun birthday party idea, or a way to tire out your children. Now being a member in the community I’ve learned that climbing is not like most other sports.
In fact, it’s a sport for people who didn’t fit into other sports. Unlike the more popular sports like football, baseball, basketball, and softball all which are centered around teamwork, hand eye coordination, and physical build. Rock climbing is very focused on self-endurance, mental stimulation, technique, discipline, and even fear. While many sports might share some of these qualities, you practice them with rock climbing in unique ways.
Another unique aspect is that most people rarely start off young in climbing. Parents aren’t taking their seven-year olds to the park to climb, it's always to play soccer, throw a frisbee or a football. Now with that in mind most rock climbers tried a sport or two first before finding the one they fit into.
Many climbers don’t feel like they fit in with the culture other sports have or find the pressure of having to hit a baseball in front of crowd to stressful, or running laps was pointless and a waste of energy. Since rock climbing is all about self-improvement, a climber can make their work out however hard they want to, and never worry about not being good enough for the team. Climbing is also one of the only sports that strengthens most of the muscles in a person’s body. The sport literally uses your own body against itself, requiring all your muscles to work just to keep oneself on the wall. Another reason rock climbing is not like most other sports is that it helps train you for other sports as well like hiking and spelunking. Lastly climbing is one of the only sports out there to connect you more with nature and appreciate the earth we live on.
Most sports really focus on the physical training and energy exertion, like how fast can you run and how far can you throw a ball. Rock climbing does more than that, it doesn’t just challenge a person physically it also challenges them mentally creating each new route like a puzzle leaving a climber to wonder, “What technique do I need to complete this”, or “ where am I supposed to put my hands and feet to get past this move?” Plus, on top of that climbing throws a whole element of mortal danger and fear into the mix as you literally try and defy gravity. Climbing is truly a sport for the most badass of people out there, even if those people don’t fit into the mold of other sports.
The main lesson from climbing is just because you don’t fit one place doesn’t mean you’re not a rock star in something else.
