A literal climb to the top

By Chandler Walter, Editor-in-Chief

I don’t know exactly what it is, but there’s something so undeniably satisfying about making it to the top of a bouldering route.

For anyone unaware of the term—which, when I brought it up to the newsroom, is at least a handful of people—bouldering is basically rock climbing without the ropes.

Now, before you start freaking out and telling me I have a death wish, you should know that bouldering routes, or “problems,” go no higher than 15 to 20 feet above the ground, and have a nice, softly padded floor beneath.

That’s not to say that climbing 20 feet up and accidentally falling on top of an unsuspecting climber isn’t going to cause some serious damage, but it’s got nothing on Vertical Limit’s opening scene.

(Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn’t seen the first five minutes of Vertical Limit, but it included some tense instances of malfunctioning rock climbing gear, and ended with a dead dad.)

I recently started bouldering on the regular this past week, and just as with all fleeting hobbies I get excited about and then abandon a few weeks down the line, I am going to immortalize it in a Lettitor. I really think that this one will stick around, though. It combines climbing (super fun), sitting on softly padded floors (already a hobby of mine), and working out (something I need to trick myself into doing), making it basically the perfect after-work activity that I don’t have to feel bad about paying money for.

Not to brag, but I was something of a Grounders champion back in elementary school, and those climbing instincts are slowly remerging. Sure, it doesn’t help that I have an extra 150 lbs of Chandler to haul around, or that my hand strength is seriously lacking, but I can actually feel myself improving each and every time I visit the (climbing) gym.

I think what it really comes down to, as we reach this Lettitor’s minimum word count, is that I like the idea of having a real, tangible hobby. Transitioning into the nine-to-five life has found me spending way too much time just “relaxing” in my after-work hours, and now that the sun is starting to hesitantly show itself in our Vancouver skies, it’s about time I do something at least somewhat productive towards my overall health.

Even if only by happy coincidence.