Indoor rock climbing and bouldering are having their moment, and U of M students have three places to try it — The Hive, Vertical Adventures and the university’s climbing wall in the Active Living Centre or bouldering room in the Frank Kennedy Centre.
Julian Chuckry, a U of M kinesiology undergrad student and VII climber, said, “Climbing is an inherently sensory activity, and very attractive to sensory-seekers and humans of all kinds.”
Although this sport is often seen as recreational, Chuckry said the activity forces climbers into “a state of flow, where you can’t be focusing on homework or deadlines or stress or anything like that, because you’re focusing on not falling to the ground.” The stakes feel immediate, but he noted the setup is safe with mats on the ground. A sense of urgency still crowds everything else out of climbers’ minds.
In bouldering and roped climbing, every route has a start and finish, how a climber gets between them is up to them. “You’re blessed with the creativity and the autonomy to figure out how to get from the starting point to the ending point,” Chuckry said. In his view, that is the real engine behind the growing popularity. “It’s like a game.”
Chuckry coaches kids at Serratus Movement Centre. For students who want to try it but do not know where to start, his advice is blunt — just show up.
He has coached and climbed alongside people ranging from age three to their 60s, and he is confident whoever walks in will find their people. “Climbing has such a diversified population,” Chuckry said. “If you frequent the climbing gyms, it’s very likely you’re going to meet someone in the same situation as yourself, and you can get along with them, befriend them and climb with them.”
Chuckry said beginners do not need chalk when trying climbing recreationally for the first time, but it becomes necessary once they start pushing into harder grades. Chuckry also shared that he uses the rental shoes at the campus and said they are quite good.
For visits to The Hive, Chuckry uses Scarpa Instinct VS climbing shoes. He additionally recommended that if someone considers buying their own shoes, they could buy them at The Hive where the staff can help with fitting and climbers can also try the shoes on the wall.
Students new to the sport may be hesitant to try it because of concerns about injuries, especially to their hands. Chuckry has a relaxed take. “In 95 per cent of the cases, you have nothing to worry about,” he said.
He acknowledged the rare injuries he has seen have always involved fingers. Climbers crimping on tiny holds can cause a tendon strain. His fix is simple, to back off the moment a finger starts to ache rather than forcing through the pain.
Chuckry said the U of M gym has a strong climbing facility, particularly for roped climbing. “I don’t think there’s anywhere else in Winnipeg that has a wall that good,” he said, calling it “probably the best in the city.” He is also impressed with the bouldering side, saying he is “really quite satisfied.” He noted the gym has “good macro holds.”
His only critique is that the bouldering room is small and lacks the varied wall angles of The Hive. He added he would not expect that at a university and just feels lucky to have it.
For comparison, The Hive’s monthly bouldering membership costs $130 for students, while the U of M offers a four-month climbing pass for $285. Vertical Adventures has a $230 four-month pass for students.
Chuckry included that the value of the U of M climbing club is beyond its price. “The community is generally very inclusive and friendly and supportive,” he said. “Everybody has their friends. If they don’t have their friends, they make friends.” He added, “It’s definitely a social thing, it fulfills your social needs [and] it fulfills your physical needs of […] getting stronger day by day.”
