For most folks who are longer in sport, it is by far the best activity that can be done. I do in some form: hiking/camping in wilderness, swimming, biking, paragliding, climbing, via ferratas, alpinism, diving, skiing, ski touring/alpinism and few other things, on top just training with weights and running. Kids cut it significantly but I am still there.
Climbing in non-winter conditions (or indoor) and ski touring are by far the best things for me. I come happy like a toddler after a session / trip on skis. I just don't get this from typical old school team sports, or even single/duo ones.
The biggest thing isn't the physical effort part, not for me. Its exposition to your fear of death, fear of injury which are very strong emotions. You have to repeatedly overcome your biggest fear in whole life and push through, maybe 10x maybe 50x per evening. Do it for 1 or 2 decades at least 1x a week and your personality will change for the better. Also helps with various milder mental issues, not fixing them but improving (this can be said about every sport but its way more intense here).
There are other sports where you expose yourself to similar fears, but in climbing its very easy in afterwork session, without the actual risk (valid for sport climbing).
Does climbing really expose you to your fear of death? You're strapped in, and possibly wearing a helmet if outside, while either top roped or clipped in metal anchors. I can see that fear if you're free climbing, though.
I've gone dozens of times, mostly because friends can't get enough of it, but I find it slow, boring and expensive. I've done mostly outdoor, but some indoor, and while sometimes I enjoy the technical aspect of it. Solo back country trekking and camping seems "scarier" to me.
Personally, after work, the last thing I want is intense stimulation, or to be around a bunch of people pulling on plastic. I'd prefer a nice ride or to get outside, away from everything.
Yes it does, definitely for me, depending on the route. But I have great imagination, my internal renderer can project a new house construction in 2 seconds but can also in 0.1s project gnarly consequences of the fall right here right now. With experience you get better but I've never lost it, just became better at managing it (this is the growth part I mentioned).
Indoor routes are generally very safe due to frequent bolts, outdoor it depends, with bolts easily 4-5m apart, not so much. I still talk purely about sport climbing with drilled bolts, not trad climbing where you put expansion devices into cracks yourself or wedge tiny metal bits and pray intensely you won't actually fall on them.
I don't want to go into detailed climbing & fall physics but if in such a route you fall just before next bolt (or during an attempt to clip into it), you can easily swing up to 8m down, hit a ledge, part of rock with serious force, or just be smashed against rock face hard (if you are in overhang then all is fine obviously, just belayer will fly hard). Broken/twisted ankles, wrists etc are not that uncommon in such situation, or worse depending on position, usage of helmet etc.
> Does climbing really expose you to your fear of death?
It depends how (de)sensitised your flinch/fear/other responses are to various things. I practice martial arts (swords, wrestling) and even when I know I can parry a hit, or that it'll be pulled before doing me any real damage if I don't (or the weapon is a light synthetic that I'll barely feel through the PPE), I sometimes find the natural “pointy thing heading towards my cranium” oh-shit reaction cannot be resisted. Same for a throw that I know I will land safely from. There are those who have less efficient self-preservation reactions, or more control to resist them as needed, or both, and there are those who are far more reactive, sometimes significantly overly so, than I.
I assume⁰ climbing is the same: some don't get the natural fear response because their rational thinking combined with all the PPE damps it down, some very much do despite all that.
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[0] assuming as I've not done any myself so don't have a first-hand point of reference
There's definitely a primal fear when you're 15-20m up on a rock where you feel like you have nothing to grip onto (or you're losing your strength) and you're going to fall -- even if you rationally know you'll be 100% fine, there's something you have to battle where it just "feels wrong" and you feel some kind of fundamental risk. The feeling tends to vary though, but it's quite common.
Also, yeah, it's definitely not for everyone. I only tried it out at 39 and am finding it super fun and satisfying/rewarding, so I'm all-in, but a lot of people "nope out" due to total disinterest after trying it!
idk maybe you fall in that category too. if you're a climber i'm sure a stranger has looked at you with disgust and thought, "i can't believe that alternative frat bro climber exists."
Umm, what? I was just being a bit funny with my positive realization that my recent undertaking of a new sport has more benefits than I was previously aware. Why are you insulting me?
I didn't mean to insult you personally. It's this braggadocious attitude that I've encountered in a lot of bouldering gyms that I've visited, so often that I assume it must part of the subculture mentality.
I love the sport and the physical challenge but I don't buy into the whole weed-smoking "I'm so counter-culture, bro" self-image. It's like Crossfit but for hipsters with shitty tattoos.
More than once, it seems, I (as a noobie) have been in the way of some "bro", who took a date to the bouldering gym in order to show off in front of the woman and (pretending to assist) to feel her up.
Climbing in non-winter conditions (or indoor) and ski touring are by far the best things for me. I come happy like a toddler after a session / trip on skis. I just don't get this from typical old school team sports, or even single/duo ones.
The biggest thing isn't the physical effort part, not for me. Its exposition to your fear of death, fear of injury which are very strong emotions. You have to repeatedly overcome your biggest fear in whole life and push through, maybe 10x maybe 50x per evening. Do it for 1 or 2 decades at least 1x a week and your personality will change for the better. Also helps with various milder mental issues, not fixing them but improving (this can be said about every sport but its way more intense here).
There are other sports where you expose yourself to similar fears, but in climbing its very easy in afterwork session, without the actual risk (valid for sport climbing).