Rock climbing puts mind over body
Don’t let Tom Cruise swinging effortlessly around a sheer cliff in Mission Impossible 2 give you the wrong idea: Climbing is more challenging mentally than it is physically, and almost anyone can do it.
That’s the message from Eric Furlotte, the manager of the 15,000- square- foot Cliffhanger Climbing facility in Vancouver.
He sees hundreds of climbers come through his gym every day. He says the sport certainly comes with physical demands, but your body will get stronger and adjust to them. Once you’re off the ground, it’s all in your head.
“[ Rock climbing] definitely challenges your mind. If you’re a person who likes puzzles or figuring things out or being able to get yourself in the zone where you’ve got to focus to make sure you can get through,” says Furlotte, “then this is a great tool for that.”
Indeed, once the excitement of hitting the wall wears off, you’ll wish you’d spent more time mapping your route and planning your footholds instead of worrying about whether you’d have the strength.
According to Furlotte, rock climbing uses a veritable smorgasbord of skills, starting with that mental toughness but also engaging flexibility, physical endurance and, of course, muscle strength.
All of which are best learned on the wall, says Furlotte: “The best training for climbing is climbing.”
To get started, Furlotte recommends finding a partner to share an introductory lesson with, during which you’ll learn everything you need to know about wall safety, ropes and the art of “getting your weight onto your skeletal system” rather than just using raw strength.
After that, it’s just a matter of acquiring the equipment and, of course, doing reps: ideally two or three sessions a week for a few hours each. That may seem like a lot of time, but the skills you’ll learn — both physical and mental — will prepare you for anything. Indeed, it’s a sport for more than just the Tom Cruises of the world.
“If you can climb a ladder, you can get in here and climb and have fun,” says Furlotte.