Recently, I was able to go rock climbing outdoors for the first time (thanks to the Varsity Outdoors Club). And as you may be able to tell by the title, I loved it. So I thought I’d give a bit of an explanation as to why I had so much fun, and as to why I think outdoor sports are generally pretty awesome.

Climbing, or really any outdoor sport with a bit of risk, can come across as an absurd pastime to anyone who has no experience with the outdoors. This is mostly because the act of climbing (or other sport) is not exactly pleasant. You’re clinging to a cliff in some sort of contorted position by only your toes and your fingertips. If you don’t have callouses, your hands are probably being ripped shreds. All of your muscles are in screaming pain, and you may be shaking from adrenaline. Add to that the fact that you’re dangling by a strand of rope high above the ground, and climbing may seem like the exact opposite of a pleasant experience. However, climbing has some pretty amazing aspects that makes the unpleasant bits completely worth it.

In some ways, climbing is fun because all you can focus on in that moment is getting up the cliff. But its distracting capabilities aren’t the only thing that makes the sport amazing. As cheesy as it may sound, climbing, along with a lot of other outdoors sports, makes you feel fully alive. Not because of the risks, but because you’re being physically and mentally pushed to the limit, something that does not happen in our day to day lives. Another wonderful aspect of climbing is that it is a puzzle to be solved. Your goal is to find the best route up the cliff, which involves analyzing which tiny cracks will support your entire body weight. My biggest problem with exercising is that I often have nothing to do with my mind, something that is definitely not a problem when rock climbing.

The discomforts of any outdoor sport can be kind of discouraging. But there is so much to gain from being in the great outdoors, so many experiences that you wouldn’t have anywhere else. So I can’t wait to do some more climbing, and learn more about this great sport.