I've been meaning to get into wall climbing since I first found out about it 8 or so years ago. During my junior year in undergrad, I signed up for a wall climbing PE course. It was okay while it lasted but I didn't really get much out of it. 

There were too much academics -  we had handouts about the gear and voice commands, we had written exams based on those handouts - and too little actual climbing. The class wasn't small enough, the time in the gym wasn't long enough. I learned the basics of belaying but did have have the time to develop a technique. We climbed beginner routes on top-rope for a whole semester. On hindsight, I realize how boring that was.

These reasons, coupled with the more fundamental one: life getting in the way, made my mind push climbing in the back room. I started thinking about getting into climbing again soon after I returned to the Philippines from Finland where I met someone who actually had climbing shoes, harnesses, biners and other gear in his closet. I remember thinking about how cool it was to actually own these things because you have a need for it.

But upon my return to Manila, life (again) got in the way.

I remember posting something in Facebook called 5 Things I Want To Learn. One of those was rock climbing. A Filipina I became friends with while in Finland told me she has a friend in Manila who was into climbing and hooked me up with her. This friend of a friend and I exchanged messages for a while but long story short, I never got to go climbing.

The gym was far from home; it would have been such a hassle to go there regularly. I was unfit; I would have pulled muscles that have been dormant for too long. I came up with excuses.

Then two months ago, I moved to Copenhagen to study for my master's. Looking for things to do on my free time, I found out about an organization that offered a wide selection of sports for students. While they had wall climbing on their course list, I didn't immediately sign up for that. I think my mind was still making excuses till that point.

What I did instead was sign up for a CrossFit class without even knowing what CrossFit was. That proved to be a stupid idea because CrossFit, I soon found out, is an alias for "Workout From Hell." For a person with a sedentary lifestyle (aka me), it was just too much.

So I opted out and signed up for wall climbing. The schedule I wanted to sign up for was already fully booked so I had to take one that would only meet 10 times within the season: 5 times in September and 5 times in April the following year. A bit of a plus, I got to convince my roommate to attend the class with me. At least, I'd always have a belay partner.

The first time the class met, I was a mess. We climbed in an outdoor wall and despite the fact that Copenhagen was still celebrating the dying days of summer, my hands were already too cold to feel the handholds. I didn't have climbing shoes that first time so I distrusted my feet.

You'd think that I'd finally throw the towel down and say, "Well, I've tried climbing in two separate occasions. Both haven't been particularly amazing experiences. So that's it, I'm letting this one go." But I wanted this to happen. This time, I'm not making excuses.

So I continued attending the class. Because the organization lent us everything except climbing shoes, I needed to buy my own: La Sportiva Mantis. Even the process of buying my first pair of climbing shoes had a mildly interesting story but I wouldn't get into that now. 

What I would say, though, is this: buying those shoes motivated me. I knew I had to make the most out of it. It's like signing a commitment contract of sorts.

After faithfully attending classes for several Saturdays and climbing once with a friend who was a climbing nut, I finally got my Danish Climbing Federation Security Course Certificate (S1). That basically means I can belay. My friend told me that really isn't a requirement but it's still a nice thing to have. At least, it would give me access to the climbing gym during free training days.

I've since then tried lead climbing several times, which made me gain a bit of confidence every time. Now that the class is on hiatus, I've decided to go try bouldering in the gym to develop technique. My first encounter with a overhang last weekend scraped the skin off my fingers. But who cares?

I've started reading books on climbing and watching videos to get inspired. My friend told me this is the start of a climbing addiction. I don't mind that. No, not at all.

Now that I've gotten into wall climbing, I think it's time to make a goal about moving from the gym to the crag. For my program's third semester, we'd be moving to Spain where there are fantastic climbing opportunities, I was told. I've decided I'm going to work on being physically and mentally ready for the rock then. Wish me luck!