Why should people rock climb?

Rock climbing is a great sport as really almost anyone can do it, regardless of their fitness level.

There are a few types of climbing, but the simplest one is indoor bouldering. Boulders are short routes, usually up to 15 feet (around 5 meters) tall. You don't really need any equipment besides climbing shoes, and a chalk bag, but even those can usually be provided by the climbing gym.

The goal of bouldering is to climb from point A to point B. The rules are fairly simple, though each climbing gym may have their own variation of the rules. The basic rules are to start from the starting hold, and to finish the route by touching the finish hold with two hands. There is a mat at the bottom of the routes to make falling/getting down safe.

The reason why this is the simplest form of climbing, mainly for beginners, is because it’s very simple to just start climbing, you do not need to depend on anyone, you can do it alone, and the beginner routes are just very easy to climb, they are very much like climbing ladders. As you progress in the grades, the routes will become more complex and physically demanding, but also mentally demanding.

This is where things start to get more interesting, and why people looking to start a new sport should consider rock climbing. Climbing is not only a physical sport, it is also a mental one. You can think about climbing and boulder problems as puzzles. Your goal is to solve the puzzle by understanding the route, it's requirements, and how you can physically complete the puzzle. To do this you have to understand what the route requires from you, and what your physical strengths are, skills, and technique.

There is a lot of thought and puzzle solving that goes into climbing, it's not just a matter of getting on the route and climbing to the top with all the strength you have, sometimes the routes require far more technique than strength.