Choose Your Path

Not everyone enjoys climbing up a vertical wall, but the walls are designed to cater to any kind of climber.  In the picture above there are different colored pieces of tape marking different grips.  Each color represents a different path, which may or may not be considered difficult.  For most people, like tourists, the colors mean nothing; these people just come in for the thrill of climbing.  However, for those who are veteran climbers these colored pieces of tape are a way for them to challenge themselves both physically and mentally.   You may wonder what I mean by mentally challenging themselves.  Speaking as someone who has climbed and watched people climb, rock-climbing is just as much a mental sport as a physical one.  It is very easy to convince yourself that you cannot do it, but if you believe you can do it then it is easy for one to overcome their own mental blocks.  

The designs of these grip-holds are not just random.  They are intended to make the climber’s brain work.  They have to think about where they are going next.  In my opinion, climbing can serve as a form of meditation.  Meditation is focusing a small portion of the mind on one simple task, in order to let the rest of it be at peace.  While the climber focuses on where they will reach or step next, the rest of their mind is not worrying or stressing about anything.  I sat down for awhile on one of my visits to observe a couple experienced climbers.  It seemed like their brains were on cruise control and their bodies were just going with the flow.  They moved very gracefully up and down the walls and even when they missed a grip or slipped, they still looked agile as if they planned it out.  The grips on the walls looked faded at first, but after touching a few and seeing climbers with their chalk bags, I realized that they were covered in climbing chalk.  The chalk had been used so many times on the holds that it literally had been ground into the plastic.  The larger, more used grips were much more worn down.  The smaller, less used ones were much brighter and not worn down.  The condition that the grips were in represented, to me, that these grips were doing their jobs.  What I mean is that if there was a rock wall grip that looked brand new and no one had been using it, then it was either too tough to reach or unnecessary to use.  But when the grips are faded, that means they have helped many climbers to achieve their goals, whether it is getting off level ground or ringing the bell at the top.