When working out at the Student Recreation Center at the University of Idaho, one of the first things someone might notice is how popular the climbing wall is. It’s always chock-full of people lining up to climb up the colorful stones lining the walls.
The climbing center at the SRC is one of the more popular forms of exercise among regular gym-goers on campus. However, it’s not something anyone can just walk in and do. Not just because it’s an intense workout that requires good footwork, hand placement and the use of your entire upper body, but because in order to enjoy the climbing wall a training course that gives new climbers a basic understanding of the activity is required.
This course includes learning to tie figure-eight knots, which are useful for ensuring a rope doesn’t come loose when climbing. It also includes learning how to climb with a partner and basic commands that will help the climbing process run smoothly. After all that, new climbers are ready to go.
A lot of people tend to enjoy climbing, and make it a regular workout at the gym. Matt Farkas, a junior at UI, started climbing last year and now climbs twice a week.
“I find it kind of relaxing,” Farkas said. “A good stress reliever. It’s like a way to exercise without feeling like I’m exercising.”
Farkas said what makes climbing appealing is that climbers are able to go at their own pace. Climbers can plan where they want to move their hands and feet to get the best position and continue their journey up the wall.
“It’s a really creative sport,” Dan Temmen, a regular visitor to the climbing center, said. “The body movement is really interesting and engaging, it’s like part physical endeavor, part mental, part artistic.”
Some climbers compare it to solving a puzzle. Climbing requires athletes to be creative in their endeavors, because there are multiple ways to climb something.
“My job is rooted in the sense of people having an understanding of the technologies that they utilize within their own bodies to basically move through the landscape in an efficient way,” Nathan Moody, an outdoor program coordinator of the SRC, said. “One of my favorite sayings is ‘It’s hard saying and not knowing,’ and once you’re outside and you experience these things you can learn more about yourself.”
Moody said he has been climbing for 17 years. He grew up on the Snake River Plain, where there is an abundance of areas that are perfect for climbing and exploring. He stuck with the exercise because not only is it a great workout, but it’s challenging as well.
“Climbing isn’t a give-me activity where you can become incredibly strong overnight,” Moody said. “The challenge of just climbing something that’s difficult, the aesthetics to maintaining basically a fitness level that allows me to greatly move across challenging landscapes, is a continual goal.”
Moody said it takes a lot of work to be an effective climber and it is a challenge, but the rewarding feeling after reaching the top is what makes the activity worth it.
“It’s a great metaphor for challenging yourself in life,” Moody said. “It’s an activity that will carry you through other academic, personal, emotional and spiritual realms where its’s this thing that teaches you a lot about yourself in a lot of different constructs.”
Ryan Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @RyanHil32959860