My Rock Climbing Journey

When I tell people that I do rock climbing, their first reaction is either, “Wow! That’s so cool!” or “Yeah, but what real sport do you do?”

Yes, climbing is “so cool.” And yes, it is a “real sport.” While you might think soccer and football are more important than rock climbing, you probably aren’t too familiar with the sport. Most team sports are so basic that you can get very good at them, but there are limits to how skilled you can be.

Rock climbing has no limits. It’s constantly changing and evolving. New climbs are being invented every day by some of the most skilled climbers in the world. There are rules to follow, but breaking them is one of the most fun things I do. Making up your own climbs and your own moves is so much more fun than kicking a ball around a field.

Bowman begins a speed climb.

I started climbing when I was around three or four. My dad would take my sister and me on the weekends, and we would get dumplings after an hour or so. Over time, we got busier, and climbing became even less of a priority. I had no interest in continuing it, and I quickly moved on to other sports. I even did gymnastics for seven years, but I got pretty bored of that too. Also, people in the gymnastics community are not the most supportive. A lot of the coaches would stretch you so far you would pull a muscle or force you to do intense workouts that resulted in injuries.

But last year, my parents told me I had to choose a sport to do once a week—since I had quit gymnastics—so I decided on climbing. Very reluctantly, I agreed to sign up for the Rec Team. Little did I know, climbing would change my life.

When I first started taking a class, I did not want to climb competitively—just the idea of having to perform scared me so much. But the Rec Team soon became too easy, and I needed to be surrounded by people who wanted more commitment. I hardly knew anyone when I first moved to Bridge Team, a competitive team at my gym. I was terrified because I thought people judged me since I wasn’t as skilled as everyone else. But I was in for a big surprise.

Bowman climbs as a child.

In the gymnastics world, you’re constantly judged on your appearance. Are you skinny enough but also strong enough? Are you flexible enough? Are your moves perfect? But in the climbing world, everything is different. Your teammates support each other and share each other’s goals.

Bowman climbs surrounded by her teammates.

Even though you are climbing by yourself, you have the support and encouragement of all your teammates and coaches. Sometimes when I go to the gym, I’ll meet random people and start a conversation with them. That’s actually how I met both of my coaches. Over the summer, I was working on a V7, and another person was as well. We exchanged betas, the sequence of moves in a climb, and solved the problem together. I learned that he was coaching a climbing club, and every time he came to the gym, we would have a nice conversation.

One of my other coaches, Nick, was friends with my Rec Team coach. I met him through her, and since he worked at the front desk, I always said hello to him when I came in. When I found out they would coach the Bridge Team, I was super psyched. And when I made the team, I was super excited to meet some new people.

The people on my team are so great. I’m not friends with all of them, but I am friendly with everyone. That’s just how people are. You encourage random people, even if you don’t know them, because that little bit of encouragement could motivate them to try really hard.

While I love the Bridge Team, I can’t wait to move to Junior Varsity. I met some of them through my friend, and their team has such a fun dynamic. They all climb together an extra day outside of practice, and they even hang out outside of climbing sometimes. They were so welcoming that they even invited me to join their practices. Honestly, their team has helped me in so many ways.

I’m not going to pretend that climbing isn’t absolutely terrifying. There are people like Alex Honnold who go and cheat death. But for us ordinary people, we certainly get scared. One time, my coach insisted that I tried a 5.11 on lead when the highest I had climbed was a 5.10+. There was a pretty big jump between the two, and I didn’t really feel comfortable climbing it.

But I said I would climb it because climbing isn’t about feeling comfortable. So I climbed to around the fourth clip, and even though I was scared, I kept going. And then I got to the fifth clip. It was in a pretty awkward position, in which I had to clip in, and I couldn’t manage to move my hands without losing control. So I hung there for a good few minutes until I eventually chickened out.

In the climbing world, falling or making a stupid mistake isn’t such a big deal. Either one is better than what I did. Quitting is the worst possible thing you can do when you’re a climber. The whole point of climbing is to push past your fear and keep going, and if you can’t do that, you will never be a good climber. So when I chickened out, I felt so ashamed.

I thought for sure that my coach would be mad at me, but all he said was that I would try again next time. I dreaded getting back on the lead wall until next Thursday at JV practice. My friend invited me to climb with her, and the coaches said it was okay. We were doing lead insights, which means you have one attempt to climb a route you’ve never tried before. My partner went first, and she didn’t finish the route.

So when I got on the wall, I wasn’t expecting to make it farther than her, but I did. I almost finished the climb. After that, I tried a 5.11+, which I had never tried before, and I made it pretty far on that too. I don’t know what it was, but somehow, it felt more manageable for me to climb on their team.

Ever since then, I’ve been pushing my limits on lead even farther and trying even more challenging climbs. I can’t wait to grow even more and get even better.
What makes a good climber isn’t the ability to be fearless or never make mistakes. It’s to keep climbing even when you’re scared and think you can’t continue.