I haven’t gotten to climb outside in a while, but that doesn’t mean my harness has been sitting idle – In fact, I’ve been able to stay fairly consistent with hitting the local climbing gym here in Dublin since the semester started!
Now, I fully expect that 2025 will see that consistency slow down a bit as classes ramp up (Ed note: Ben may be writing with the aid of a bit hindsight here, as this post is actually being written in late 2025…), but for now… I’m enjoying the opportunity to stay on the walls, and get some good strength training in!
And, most excitingly… Andrea’s joined in on the fun! She joined in for her first-ever time rock climbing, and was an absolute trooper – getting on the wall, climbing a few routes, and hitting that coveted top hold on more than a few routes.
Three cheers for climbing through the end of 2024!
I’ve always liked taking photos. I love the opportunity to share things with people (my folks raised me well, I guess), and photography is the closest I can come to sharing the amazing experiences that I have with others.
That being said, it’s hard to share the experience of rock climbing with people. The movement, the delicate strength, the height and pattern and the entire feel of the act. How secure a tenuous hold can be in the moment, and how impactful the subtle differences in the holds can be.
I also lack photos of myself. Being behind the camera doesn’t lend itself to being in front of the camera, unsurprisingly, so I’m not often the subject of photos. Which isn’t that bad, but it does make me a little sad that I don’t get to see how I look on the walls.
Thankfully, I met an amateur sports photographer who climbs at my gym.
We scheduled a time, missed the time, rescheduled a different time, and made it happen! For four or five hours Bri and I climbed. Moving slowly, making clear movements, and then pausing regularly to allow Antonio (the photographer) to reposition. It was exhausting! We got a great workout in AND got a metric ton of photos – a few thousand, from what I heard near the end.
A week to curate and edit, and soon enough I was sitting at the gym with my laptop open, looking at a full 81 amazing photos.
Of those 81, I’ve curated them down again to my absolute favorites… so please! Sit back and enjoy a few pictures of me enjoying my favorite hobby!
If you’re curious, or even if you’re not, you should definitely check out Antonio’s instagram page – He’s breaking into sports photography and portraits, but is already an amazing astrophotographer! https://www.instagram.com/lunamic_virtus/
Ohhhh man it’s been way too long since I’ve done a climbing competition!
I mean, it’s been a year. Almost exactly one year. Since this is an annual climbing competition. Duh, Ben.
Anyways, it was great!
I’m very proud to say that I did quite well this year – I didn’t quite make it into the open category, which was my goal, but I came close – Open competitors started at ~2600pts, and I ended with 2430, so… not too bad, if I may say so! Past the raw score, I did pretty well overall too. Counting every category, I was 49th out of 129 total folks competing!
Not too bad. Not too bad at all… Maybe I’ll find a way to swing by Portland for the competition next year, and see how a year in Ireland impacts my climbing!
