How Rock Climbing Builds Muscle, Mindfulness and Community

Newsweek

15 hours ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
As a relatively new climber, I look up and think, There's no way I'm getting up this. The limestone arches overhead in swirls of gray and rusty brown. Look closely, though, and it is carved and pitted with features where white chalk marks from the fingers of previous climbers show the ghost of a way up.
The only way I can climb is to start. To think of the next places for my feet and for my hands, not the finish point 65 feet above—or anything else. I listen only to my breathing and my belay buddy, holding my life through the belay device on the rope between our harnesses. Clipping the rope to bolts set in the cliff face, I maneuver over a jutting fold. It goes surprisingly well for 50 feet. Then the footholds seem to run out. And the handholds. My fingers press on dusty wrinkles of rock, but my arms are bent and burning. My heart drums in my ears.
I know what comes next. There's just time to yell: "Falling." My experienced belayer, Sophie, catches me on the rope as I jolt to a stop a few feet below where I was clinging on.
CLOSE X
I rest my tired arms and racing mind. Look around. I see another way up, to the right. No rush. Try again. This time I make it to the anchor point at the top. I feel relief and no little sense of achievement. I'm sure the view from the top here in Geyikbayiri, Turkey, is fantastic, but right now I'm happy for Sophie to lower me to the ground. I'll be back another day to "send" the route without a break.
Over the past year, I have joined the rapidly increasing community taking up climbing: whether at indoor gyms or outdoor crags as people of all ages and abilities discover a sport that offers a more interesting way to get fit than lifting heavy things up and down and that also improves flexibility and balance. According to scientific studies, it can offer additional benefits for mental health.
"When you become a climber, you're instantly part of a tribe—people who share your passion. That makes it easier to form and maintain meaningful relationships, which are vital for mental health," British professional climber and mind coach Hazel Findlay, 36, told Newsweek.
Matthew Tostevin
Matthew Tostevin
Matthew Tostevin
"There's also the problem-solving element. Climbing engages the brain as well as the body, which keeps us present and focused—sometimes even allowing us to access flow states. And then there's the fear. Climbing regularly puts us in situations where we confront fear and learn to manage our stress responses. That emotional regulation—the ability to stay calm and centered under pressure—is incredibly transferable to all areas of life."
A study published in 2024 said climbing "may offer protective benefits against certain anxiety disorders among adolescents." Another analysis published in 2022, involving a total of 568 people, concluded that therapeutic climbing offers "a safe and effective treatment for improving physical/mental/social well-being"—while noting that more research was needed. And, of course, it's fun.
A man hanging in mid air by a single rope is shadowed by the narrow canyon he is in, but behind him the red sandstone cliffs are washed in late evening light.
A man hanging in mid air by a single rope is shadowed by the narrow canyon he is in, but behind him the red sandstone cliffs are washed in late evening light.
Getty
'It's More Safe Than To Drive a Car in Traffic'
A quote often attributed to Ernest Hemingway is: "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games." And climbing doesn't require either a car or a bull and a readiness to inflict animal cruelty.
Risks can also be minimized. Many people start with bouldering at a climbing gym. There are no ropes and thick mats provide a soft landing when you fall off holds set on the wall. Outdoor boulderers carry their pads with them. Sport climbing involves higher routes with fixed bolts. You need a rope—and usually a partner. The lead climber takes the rope up to the anchor point and other climbers may then climb on "top rope," which is even safer. Traditional or "trad climbing" doesn't have the fixed bolts so you need to bring your own safety devices.
"You find the proper instructor and trainer, it's 100 percent safe. It's more safe than to drive a car in the traffic," said Geyikbayiri climbing instructor and guide Volkan Özkan, a stickler for making sure every knot is tied neatly as well as safely. "But you need an experienced instructor, belayer, trainer or friends."
Large group of climbers at Paklenica, Croatia.
Large group of climbers at Paklenica, Croatia.
Matthew Tostevin
In a separate category is free solo climbing—as demonstrated by Alex Honnold in the Oscar-winning 2018 documentary Free Solo. Done without any safety gear, it is extraordinarily dangerous. While criticized by some climbers for potentially encouraging people to take excessive risk, Honnold's ascent of the 3,000-foot El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park is nonetheless seen as one of the factors that raised interest in climbing, along with The Dawn Wall, a 2017 movie on the first ascent—with ropes—of one incredibly challenging route on El Cap.
Another factor was the inclusion of climbing in the Olympics. Sport climbing made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Last year in Paris, there were two sets of medals for speed climbing and then for lead climbing and bouldering combined. Climbing will be back at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Cliffs for climbing at Geyikbayiri, Turkey.
Cliffs for climbing at Geyikbayiri, Turkey.
Matthew Tostevin
"I think the biggest change in like over 10 years is the rise of the boulder gyms," said Fleur Derks, who co-owned a climbing gym in the Netherlands before moving to Geyikbayiri, where she co-owns the Flying Goat camp for climbers. "Many people from the boulder gyms also started climbing after they had seen how nice it was, and so the whole climbing community grew actually quite extensively."
"Maybe climbers in the past were always a little bit nerdy...like nature lovers-type of people, but at the moment, it's very wide, like you see, many different people come to the gyms," she told Newsweek.
Being able to do one-finger pullups—or for that matter being able to do pullups at all—is not a requirement for starters.
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The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented by VISA - brings together all the worlds of Disney under one roof for three packed days of presentations, pavilions, experiences, concerts, sneak peeks, shopping, and more. The event, which takes place September 9, 10, and 11 at the Anaheim Convention Center, provides fans with unprecedented access to Disney films, series, games, theme parks, collectibles, and celebrities. More
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The Global Growth of Climbing
Climbing can be for everyone, though not all will climb at a high level, says Findlay. She herself is getting back into the top level after becoming a mother.
"From the outside, it might look like I've bounced back—but it hasn't been that simple. It's been hard, but it's also been deeply rewarding. Having a child is amazing and climbing through this period has helped me process, learn and grow in ways I didn't expect," she said.
The total number of people participating in climbing in the United States reached 10.35 million in 2021, the last year for which data was available, according to Statista. The Climbing Business Journal recorded 875 open commercial climbing gyms in North America in 2024, a net increase of 49 on the previous year. The average annual growth rate in the U.S. was more than 6 percent over a decade.
Sam Watson of USA scores a world record time of 4.74 seconds against Reza Alipour Shenazandifard of Iran in the Small Final on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Bourget Sport...
Sam Watson of USA scores a world record time of 4.74 seconds against Reza Alipour Shenazandifard of Iran in the Small Final on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue on August 08, 2024 in Paris, France. More
Patrick Khachfe/Getty
The growth of climbing is a worldwide phenomenon, with 636 climbing gyms in China by 2023—a rise of more than 30 percent in a single year, according to the Chinese Mountaineering Association. The number of rock climbing-related posts on the Xiaohongshu social media platform rose 30-fold between 2019 and 2023, it said. The growth also means a boon for equipment makers.
"In the last five years, we've now seen a lot of these gym climbers transition to climbing outside because of mainstream media coverage of the pro athletes in this sport. This has created an uptick in the amount of people we see at popular climbing areas," said Benjamin Eaton, national marketing manager of the Sport Division of Petzl for the United States and Canada.
"This influx of new climbers has made it so that gear companies are investing in more entry-level gear when they used to mainly focus on high-end, innovative gear. Gear companies are also seeing opportunities to expand product lines to be more inclusive to various ages and body types."
Brooke Raboutou of Team United States climbs during the Women's Boulder & Lead - Final Lead on day fifteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue on August 10, 2024...
Brooke Raboutou of Team United States climbs during the Women's Boulder & Lead - Final Lead on day fifteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France. More
Michael Reaves/Getty
Pluses and Minuses
The rise in climbing can have downsides for the environment, however, with pressure on the most popular areas. Climbing can speed up the erosion of rock faces and climbers can disturb rare wildlife and plants. According to a 2024 study, opening a new climbing route can reduce the number of plant species at the site by more than a third. The magnesium from the white dust that climbers use to improve their grip can change the chemical balance of the environment.
"It's amazing to see so many people discovering climbing. But that growth creates some serious challenges for places like Red Rock or Indian Creek—more climbers on routes, more cars in the lots, more pressure on the land," Free Solo climber Honnold posted on social media recently in support of the Access Fund, a U.S. group working to protect and care for land for climbers. Red Rock Canyon in Nevada and Indian Creek in Utah are among the top climbing locations in the U.S.
The growth of rock climbing also brings changes to communities such as the one in Geyikbayiri, where the influx of climbers for most of the year—few climb during the hottest summer months—has brought new activity to a town sitting quietly among olive and orange orchards some 30 minutes' drive from the beach resort of Antalya. While not everyone in Geyikbayiri may benefit directly from climbing, it now supports an ecosystem of businesses and jobs.
Matthew Tostevin climbs a route at Geyikbayiri, Turkey.
Matthew Tostevin climbs a route at Geyikbayiri, Turkey.
Mizuki Soma
"This limestone here that we have, it's endless. We have, like, 1,500 routes here, and there are more potentially," said Özkan, who is a part of the team at Bolting Antalya that bolts new routes and rebolts old ones to keep them safe.
"You can never take the risk to zero, but we are trying to decrease it to zero...all this setup here is a perfect climbing area and the season here is nine months. In the future, we are trying to open the new sectors in shadow so it will be longer than that," he said.
I hope to be back to try them. After a while, anxiety over climbing may be replaced by anxiety over not climbing enough.