Due to my lack of upper body strength and how pricey rock climbing facilities are, I’ve never been rock climbing before, so I had no clue what to expect or how far I would be able to climb. Arriving at Bartels, seeing the huge wall was so intimidating and I felt absolutely certain I wouldn’t be able to reach the top- now, or ever, in the future, if I happened to try again. The Brothers of Climbing and the belayers working with the event were extremely encouraging and taught us all the basics of rock climbing, from techniques to what instructions to listen for from the belayers who supported us. I attempted a medium level of difficulty course for my first try, and only managed to reach halfway up the wall before my arms and hands gave out. Discouraged, I wandered around until I found the easiest course and to my utter amazement, I made it all the way to the top! My fingers never felt as tired as they did that day, and my forearms felt the strain of all the exercise I did for almost a week after, but I have absolutely no regrets about going. Reaching the top and pushing myself to keep on going even if I felt I couldn’t go any longer gave me such a huge thrill and gave me a sense of confidence for the rest of the day (which was desperately needed because I had an interview an hour after). Thanks to the generous passes gifted to us from the Brothers of Climbing, the Bartel climbing wall definitely hasn’t seen the last of me.
Category Archives: Explore Cornell: Guests in Residence: Brothers of Climbing 2.16.19
Climbing to New Heights
I had so much fun rock climbing with the Brothers of Climbing! I enjoy rock climbing, but I don’t get to go often because it can get expensive, so it was a treat to get to go. I’m afraid of falling from heights, but fro some reason I’m much more comfortable rock climbing than just standing high up. I like to push myself to do more difficult routes or a larger number of routes each time I climb. This time I climbed more routes than ever before! I even pushed myself to try the bouldering wall. Even though I fell from the bouldering wall, I realized it wasn’t as scary falling as I thought it would be. It was really nice getting to climb with a lot of other people. There were twice as many people there than I’ve ever seen before, and there was a lot more diversity. I’m sure that was because the event was hosted by the Brothers of Climbing, whose goal is to get more people of color rock climbing. The interesting thing, was that the brothers were telling us how they would go into climbing gyms and see only white men. My experience has been that when I go into climbing gyms it’s mostly occupied by women. I wonder if that’s due to changes in the demographics of the sport or just pure coincidence?
On Belay? Belay On. Climbing. Climb On!
I had never been rock climbing before so this was a new experience for me. I don’t really have upper body strength so I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to climb as much or climb as high. When we got to the wall, there were different colored climbing holds. They were labeled with numbers that indicated their difficulty. I first tried one with the lowest difficulty. To my surprise, I made it to the top without too much difficulty. I also tried bouldering, which was much more difficult because of the way the walls slanted. I climbed a few more times on sections with slightly more difficult climbing holds. I was surprised that I was able to climb a lot more than I expected. Although I could feel my forearms getting sore. All the belayers at Bartels were really friendly, patient, and supportive. They really made my first time climbing a welcoming and inclusive experience. Although I woke up the next morning with really sore muscles, I really enjoyed the event. I’m so glad that Rose Scholars helped me get out of my comfort zone and try something new. I can’t wait to go back with my suitemates in the future!