Today, I want to write a short post about my favorite sport: Climbing!

I discovered climbing as an adult. It started with bouldering (climbing fairly low walls without a rope), then transitioned to sport climbing in the gym. In Göttingen, the university sports center has a climbing gym where, as a student, you can get a membership for very cheap. In early 2016, after a friend and I completed the lead climbing course, we went to the climbing gym three to four times a week, sometimes more. We were obsessed about climbing and we quickly progressed. We weren’t able to climb the super hard routes, but we were pretty good.

However, in fall 2016, I went to Japan for a student exchange. I was so hyped about climbing that I actually took my gear (shoes, belt, belaying device, chalk) with me to Japan. Unfortunately, I was so occupied with life there that I only went bouldering a few times.

After I got back, I started climbing again, but not as obsessedly as before. In 2018, we really got into rock climbing (rock as in actual rocks in nature). We are lucky that the city we live in is surrounded by woods with several climbing spots that are even accessible by bicycle. For a while, we went almost every week, sometimes even on weekdays after work.

For some reason, this hype also subsided and in 2019, we only went for a few times. I haven’t really been at the climbing gym much since then, either.

This year, I only went twice in total, I think. Of course it is more difficult now during the pandemic. But I’m hoping that I will not stop completely. I might never get back to climbing multiple times a week, but it is still my favorite sport, and I would like to keep doing it.

How about you? What is your favorite sport or type of exercise? Do you have any experience with climbing?

PS: I’m hoping to write longer posts again starting tomorrow or the day after since I’ll have a bit more time.