I wanna be a rockstar...

This Girl Can

This blog post is very exciting because it is in association with the This Girl Can campaign. The campaign is all about empowering women to get out and get active!

I wanna be a rockstar…  

Today I took up a new challenge and went bouldering! Bouldering is rock climbing but without any ropes or harnesses like you might use at other climbing walls. The walls are surrounded by some very bouncy and soft crash mats so don’t worry about falling off. On arrival at The Climbing Lab we were greeted by a very friendly instructor called George (shout out to George!) and were directed towards the sofas to wait for our induction. The Climbing Lab really struck me as a great place to learn something new. With a coffee bar, snacks and chilled seating it gave off such a fun and relaxed vibe, putting me at ease to take up the challenge of climbing.

George ran us through safety, did a warm up and taught us some of the basics of climbing. Everybody in our induction group was all learning together, figuring out the best ways to get to the top of the walls. Quickly we were getting up to the top in no time, everybody encouraging one another and pointing out the rocks that might be best to hold onto. Once our induction was finished, we were safe to climb without instruction and explore the centre by ourselves.

Something that I really noticed was the mixture of people climbing. All different ages, men and women, shapes and sizes; there aren’t any requirements to be able to climb and while to a certain extent being strong might help you out, it is about a mixture of balance and brain power, figuring out the best way to use your energy to grab on, push and maybe even swing your way to the top of the rocks. For example, my legs are much stronger than my upper body so I was able to hold on with my hands for balance and use my legs to get myself up there. Some people had really amazing balance and could kind of hover it seemed on the tiny little rocks! Others, were just super clever, figuring out cunning ways to use the rocks to their advantage. I am excited to go back and figure out how to (try and) be spider man. If bouldering or climbing is something you have never done before have a look online and find your nearest centre, even if it is just to say you’ve tried it, you might find yourself feeling like a stunt woman in no time.