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.