My Rock Climbing Journey

Four months ago in July, I had gotten my 15th tattoo of a mountain range on the back of my forearm. Little did I know it was also a foreshadowing of my life two months later when I started rock climbing. I remember the first time I stepped foot into a climbing gym, it was nearly two years ago when my best friend Shirley took me to Dogpatch Boulders back in SF. To be honest, I was a bit intimidated. I didn't even give it a try and immediately gave it the death sentence thinking, "Nah, this isn't for me."

Life works in such a funny way. I met my boyfriend Mark (who is an avid climber) a few months ago and now I am hitting up a Touchstone with him at least once if not twice a week! I remember on our third date he had invited me to join him and his friends out in Malibu Creek State Park. They went out there to climb and thought I would just hike but it ended up being tons of scrambling and I even had to traverse over this water. It was challenging but I did it and they thought I was a natural, and then the rest was history...

Mark started showing me the ropes (pun intended haha) at the gym and I picked up top rope rather quickly. Next thing you know, I was already belaying and crushing some 5.10 (I just did my first 5.10c last week). A couple of weeks ago, we spent a weekend in Joshua Tree (non-climbing related Joshua Tree post coming soon) and did some climbing out there as well. Climbing outdoor is so different than climbing in a gym. It was so challenging and apparently J Tree climbing is especially hard but it was also very fun and rewarding (especially when you get to see the view from the top). Obviously, I am new to all of this and have alot to work on. I have been top roping and not really bouldering so I need to work on that because bouldering is also a whole other story. Baby steps, right? Either way, I am excited about this new found hobby of mine and hope that you will enjoy following my climbing journey here on my blog and over on my Instagram.

See my feature over on the Touchstone Blog here!