On bouldering.
I’ve quite recently found bouldering as an activity for myself, and I’m very much enjoying my time doing it. It’s become a real kind of meditation for me being at the climbing center. I’ve even got some friends who’ve come along and told me how peaceful it is.
It’s something about the non competitiveness, or rather a very competitive environment in the original sense of the word. People usually go there together with someone else, or the really good boulderers know the others working out there, and solve the problems in groups. They push each other, teach each other and encourage each other in a sense that’s very rare to me. It’s not a competition in the sense of being better than the other climbers, but rather to grow together.
But it’s not only the bouldering itself, but the lifestyle around it. I’ve had to take care of my hands, and more specifically my calluses, in order to be able to climb as much as I want to. I’ve had to research chalk, stones to make them smooth with, lotions and so on. I’ve spent time just taking care of the small spaces of my hands that need this attention. It’s just like when I took care of my soccer shoes, where I really needed to wash them after each practice and game. It’s something about taking that good care of something feeling so precious.
Then there’s the wonder of how people solve problems. There’s one technique where you balance yourself diagonally with your feet. So if your left hand needs to reach for something, your right leg goes out to your right. Done well, it just looks so beautiful, as people seem to glide up the wall. Just as well as really strong people who just force their way up the wall, which can be just as exhilarating.
If you ever get the chance, I recommend you to try it out. I’ve grown a lot as a person just as well as physically from doing it.