Rock Climbing, Abseiling, Caving

Would you like to try an adventure which is safe, relatively cheap and highly enjoyable? Climbing sports may be for you. These are all activities which share some common similarities, so I will give a brief overview below.

I find that climbing sports are highly beneficial to my lifestyle. Climbing sports enable quality exercise, fun with friends, a travel adventure and more importantly an enjoyable lifestyle. Climbing sports help to keep the body fit and active, whilst having fun. Admittedly, your body may be a little sore after attempting a climbing sport, because the muscles used are different. I would highly advise climbing sports to anyone; they are awesome. Remember the time as a kid that you first got into climbing sports? Climbing sports include trees and rocks around the house; I remember I used to have fun doing these. You can have just as much fun doing climbing sports around the world, as an adult.

The first climbing sport is Rock climbing. This can be done indoors on walls with plastic grips to climb up, as well as outdoors, on sheer cliffs and other rock faces.  Rock climbing is basically trying to climb up a cliff, wall, or rock face you’re your body holding onto the rock, but you are attached by ropes so that if you fall you are safe (I wouldn’t be promoting a climbing sport if you got hurt often).  This applies to all climbing sports; so you are safe doing them all. Both indoor and outdoor climbing sports are fun, but I prefer to do outdoor rock climbing, because you are out within nature. I find that just being outdoors with nature is an adventure and is more rewarding. In saying this, I frequently visit indoor rock climbing sport centers as a bit of exercise, because they are more available in regards to time; cheaper and still provide a thrill. Rock climbing sports are an adventure because of the competition with friends. It’s very easy to go out with a few mates and have an adventure.

The second climbing sport is Abseiling. This is basically a climbing sport going down cliffs, rock faces and walls. You are always attached by a harness and at least one rope, making it a very safe climbing sport to attempt. Most rock climbing sport tours and centers will also offer abseiling. Again, I find outdoor activities more fun, so I choose to do most of my climbing sports down south of Perth, on real cliffs. It’s an amazing feeling to be 35 meters above sea level, climbing down a cliff face. That’s what climbing sports are all about.

Caving is another climbing sport which many people participate in. This involves combining many activities, such as abseiling, rock climbing, exploring and sometimes even swimming. Caving basically involves exploring a cave from top to bottom, and using every other adventure sport as is needed. I have done a few caves in my life, and each one is a great enjoyment. Many caves have water at the bottom, and there are those who enjoy diving in them as an adventure. I have never done this, as it usually requires special training.

Climbing sports have only a few bits and pieces of equipment, such as shoes, gloves, ropes, harnesses, carbines and helmets. Some of these are not even needed; it really depends on the individual adventure. I have been down to Margaret River, and climbed up cliffs which are up to 35 meters tall. Most of these have been set out so that it’s very safe to climb. There are many techniques in climbing sports and is it gets more serious you can place your own safety points into the rocks. Most of the ropes have some sort of stretch available, so that if you do fall, it’s a little more comfortable.  This adventure sport truly tests out your muscle strengths, because they are usually muscles which don’t get used every day. It’s great fun to do climbing sports, and just because you’re an adult the fun doesn’t have to stop.

I find abseiling as a climbing sport great fun. It’s extremely exhilarating when you are lowering yourself backwards over a 40 meter cliff. It’s easy to think ‘What if the rope breaks’? but usually you are attached by two ropes which are capable of lowering a land cruiser down the cliff face. As long as the ropes are well maintained, there is no reason to worry. Basically climbing sports are fun if done correctly. Because you are going down, there is no force against you meaning that the effort needed for this adventure is not often that great. In saying this though, careful placement of where your hands and feet go are important. Once you get to the bottom you have to walk back to the top, although some people combine two climbing sports together and abseil to the bottom, then rock climb back to the top. There is a lot of room for variety within the topic of climbing sports. Abseiling equipment very similar to rock climbing; in fact, most climbing sports use similar equipment.

Caving is probably my favorite climbing sport out of all of these three. I find a climbing sport is fun, but when you are at the bottom in a pitch black cave, it really is amazing. If you have never been into a cave, I would highly recommend it, even if you don’t need to do any climbing sports to get there. The formations are simply amazing. In Margaret River, some of the caves have been set up with lights to show the streams flowing along, and it is brilliant. Many of the caves are set up as a tour, so that you can walk down stairs and view the caves. This means there is no climbing sports involved; just a stroll in the bush.  My personal experience with real climbing sports is caving is in South Australia, and Margaret River. I was fairly young when I did the caves near the Nullabore, but I remember following the arrows and really enjoying myself. This just shows that climbing sports are aimed at both sexes and various ags. It’s almost just like climbing on rocks near the beach, but I the dark. There are times when you need to crawl through small holes, and this is a great part of climbing sports to overcome. There is a lot of controversy over caves collapsing, but the facts remain that this is extremely uncommon and that climbing sports are actually very safe activity to participate in.

If you have never tried climbing sports, get out there and have some fun. Tours are often available throughout the world, as well as indoor climbing sport centers. These are all great fun, so get out there and try something new.