To give an overview, bouldering, an Olympic sport, is a form of climbing performed fairly close to the floor without the use of harnesses or ropes, with crash matting for protection. I recently got the opportunity to have a bouldering session with some experienced climbers who mentored me throughout the session.

I learned so many things about this sport that most people, including me, were unaware of. It almost felt like a puzzle in which you have to figure out a path from the bottom to the top, combining it with strength and technique. Since I do calisthenics, I had a fairly decent base for pulling strength to start with. The first few levels were easy for me, but as I progressed, it started to become very challenging for me. I felt a very different type of stimulus in my forearms and fingers that I had never felt before in my life. Although they were sore the next day, it was a pretty fun experience overall. I fell a lot that day while climbing, but thanks to the crash mats, I didn't hurt myself.

Even the coaches and other experienced climbers were so kind and helpful to me. I was stuck on a few paths and wasn't able to figure out how to progress. Not only did they show me the path, but they also explained to me the right techniques required to overcome them. 

Bouldering has different grades, starting with V0, V1, and so on. The technical difficulty keeps getting harder as the grades keep increasing. With the guidance of my mentors and my calisthenics base, I was able to reach V3 grade in such a short period of time. Even I was surprised to see myself progress so fast. But still, there was a long journey ahead of me. As of 2024, V17 is the hardest level of bouldering problem climbed by a human. My back, forearms, and fingers were all on fire after that session, but I'm hoping they won't be so sore in future sessions.

At the end of the session, we all sat together, where the senior climbers shared their experiences and journeys. Some of them even went to climb freestyle on actual mountains, which just sounded unbelievable to me. They could have literally died there if they fell off. I was very impressed by their skills. The fact that they all started from the bottom and now they can just climb such hard paths with consistent practice is so wonderful. A few of them had trained with the Japanese climbers, who are considered to be some of the best bouldering experts in the world. This ability of the human body to just improve itself upon constantly performing a particular skill never fails to amaze me. They gave me tips on the things I can do to progress faster at bouldering. That day, getting better at bouldering was another thing that got added to my bucket list.

All in all, it was one hell of an experience, and I would definitely recommend that everyone attend at least one bouldering session.