Want to take your relationship to new heights? Try climbing.

Let’s chalk about it!

Rock climbing.

It’s a newer hobby for me!

My boyfriend and I have been climbing together at True North Climbing for over nine months and have seriously enjoyed every minute of it. From me yelling, “NOAH, PLEASE DON’T DROP ME!” to all of our amazing accomplishments on the wall, the sport has brought us so much joy and truly enhanced so many aspects of our relationship.

After a fun discussion, we’ve come up with the 7 ways that rock climbing has strengthened our relationship and why we’re encouraging you to try it with your partner! 👏🧗

1. TRUST:

   Building trust is critical when it comes to climbing because you’re LITERALLY trusting your partner with their life. Yes, we have safety checks. Yes, we’re on a rope (attached to a harness), but there’s still a risk of injury if your partner falls.
   
   “I literally have to put my life in Jen’s hands…and I know if I fall that she has me. Trust is built through small actions. Every time I let go of the wall, I have to trust that she’s got me.” - Noah

2. ENHANCES COMMUNICATION

   Although it’s a little harder while wearing a mask, communication is critical when you’re climbing together. Need help with your climb? Want me to pull you tighter? Ready to come down? Are you feeling okay? How about you try this? ETC. It’s important to communicate constantly when you’re climbing. Now that we have to climb with masks, we have learned to speak louder or use hand gestures in some situations.

   Basic rock climbing lingo:

   Belay on – confirmation from the belayer that the climber is on belay

   Slack – climber requesting slack from the belayer

   Take – climber requesting the belayer to “take in” any slack

   On you – climber asking for enough tension to hang

   On me – climber asking for slack to begin climbing again (no longer hanging)

   Watch me – climber requesting the belayer to maintain close attention; climber may be about to fall

   Rope – always yell if a rope is being dropped from above or pulled through the anchors

   Lower – climber tells the belayer he or she is ready to be lowered

   Lowering – confirmation by the belayer as he or she begins to lower the climber

   Off belay – climber requesting to be taken off belay once he or she is securely attached to a -redundant anchor

   Belay off – confirmation that the climber has been taken off belay

   Communication, as we know, is essential in healthy and thriving relationships and we’re thankful that climbing together has enhanced and taught us so much about our communication styles.

3. OUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

   I never had a strong fear of heights but I didn’t particularly enjoy them. Noah, on the other hand, was comfortable on the wall from the beginning and his strength pushed me to continue to conquer those fears. Since we started climbing together we have found out where we excel as a couple and have learned a lot along the way.

4. LEARNING TOGETHER

   You don’t even want to see our YouTube history. If you did take a sneak peak, you’d see a ton of climbing videos! We’re always trying to learn and improve on our technique and watch other climbers excel. We’ve read various books such as Alone on the Wall, The Push: A Climber's Journey of Endurance, Risk, and Going Beyond Limits and have watched several climbing documentaries as well.
   
   A few of our favourite YouTube channels include:

   Rockentry
   Adam Ondra
   Movement for Climbers

   Both of us genuinely enjoy learning about a sport that we’re both so enthusiastic about.
   

5. ‘LET’S GET PHYSICAL’ 🎵🎶

   By choosing rock climbing as a shared activity, we’ve given our partnership a way in which to form a strong bond with one another. Practicing essential skills and overcoming adversity will no doubt help our relationship grow. At the end of a difficult climbing session we’ve been able to look at each other and know that we’re not only getting stronger, but we’re growing closer too. We’ve had fun comparing our muscles (HA!) and challenging our bodies. Added perk: We get to check out each others butts constantly!

6. PROBLEM SOLVING

   We started writing in a climbing journal (January 2020), which has now turned into a Instagram virtual journal (@jenoahclimbs), to track the routes we were attempting on the wall. When we decided to boulder one day (instead of top rope), I first learned that these bouldering routes were literally called “problems.’ Sometimes climbers will spend multiple days or weeks working on just one of them! We have learned, over time, that everyone has their own process to solve these problems when they’re on the wall, to continue to practice, to talk to each other if we need help, and to not be so hard on ourselves when we can’t figure them out on the first try. CLIMBING IS HARD. And if it’s not hard for you, well then I guess you’ve got a little more than 98% chimpanzee DNA in you.

7. PATIENCE

   Noah claims that I’m one of the most patient people he’s ever met, but I disagree! I have found it so difficult to have patience with myself while I’m on the wall. Being patient is a skill and it’s something that I continue to work on. Whether that’s being patient and kind to myself if I have an off day while climbing, or being patient as Noah works on his own climb. It makes a world of difference when you exercise this skill.

We could definitely go on and on about all the ways climbing has taken our relationship to new heights, but that’s for another article. We recommend that you at least try out the sport with your partner and see for yourself.

Happy climbing!