A guest article by our friend LydiaVenturing into outdoor rock climbing is an exciting way to experience the great outdoors, immerse yourself in nature and test your physical limits while scaling natural rock formations. Whether you’ve been practicing indoors or are entirely new to the sport, climbing in the great outdoors offers unique challenges and rewards that last a lifetime. This guide is tailored for beginners, providing the information and safety tips needed as you embark on your first outdoor climbing adventure with confidence.  View from the top after climbing. Photo credited to Lydiascapes Why You Should Try Outdoor Rock Climbing Outdoor rock climbing is more than just a sport; it’s an opportunity to experience nature in a deeply engaging and active manner. Here are some compelling reasons to give it a try: 1. Immersive Natural Experiences Unlike indoor climbing, which is within a controlled environment of a gym, outdoor climbing allows you to engage with the natural world and surroundings fully. The rock textures, fresh air, diverse wildlife and stunning landscapes all contribute to a rich sensory experience that can’t be matched indoors. If you are a nature, outdoors or adventure lover, climbing will not disappoint.  Rock formations in Cambodia. Photo credited to Lydiascapes 2. Diverse and Dynamic Challenges Outdoor rock faces are naturally irregular, offering a variety of surfaces and holds that change from climb to climb. You can be climbing sandstone rock surrounded by forests, or smooth white limestone rock in a cave, all within the same country. These discoveries and unpredictability require adaptability and creative problem-solving, making each outdoor climb a unique experience and learning.  Cave experiences while climbing. Photo credited to Lydiascapes 3. Comprehensive Physical and Mental Workout We all love a workout that is not only fun but also makes you look and feel good. Outdoor climbing usually requires an approach that involves a bit of a hike or walk, which is already a great experience to begin with. Following this, the outdoor climbing itself helps you strengthen your overall body and tone it in the process. Beyond physical strength, it also sharpens your mental focus, as you’ll need to navigate to the top while experiencing external elements like the wind, insects, heat or facing the sheer height. 4. A Sense of Accomplishment Successfully completing an outdoor climb, especially as a beginner can be incredibly rewarding. The combination of physical exertion, mental challenge, and the beauty of your surroundings culminate in a profound sense of achievement after a great outdoor day of climbing. 5 Key Tips for Beginners Ready to Climb Outdoors For those new to outdoor rock climbing, proper preparation and understanding are crucial to enjoying the sport safely, whether you are climbing or bouldering. We are going to focus on five essential tips to guide you on your first outdoor climbing: 1. Prioritize Safety: Double-Check EverythingSafety is the foundation of any successful climbing experience, especially when transitioning from an indoor environment to the unpredictability of outdoor climbing. A helmet is helpful to protect against falling debris or accidental bumps against rocks. Before you begin your ascent, take a moment to double-check with your climbing buddy your harness, rope, knots, and their belay system. Make sure everything is secure and properly set up. Clear and consistent communication with your climbing partner is also vital. Standard climbing commands like “On belay?” and “Climbing!” help prevent misunderstandings that could lead to accidents. 2. Build a Solid Foundation Indoors If you’re entirely new to climbing, starting in an indoor gym can be beneficial. Indoor climbing gyms provide a safe, controlled environment where you can learn the basics of climbing techniques, such as maintaining balance, using your legs to push, and reading routes. Additionally, these gyms offer opportunities to practice belaying—a crucial skill for outdoor climbing. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, transitioning to outdoor climbing will be much smoother.  Build a solid foundation indoors. Photo credited to Lydiascapes 3. Gear Up: The Essentials for Beginners Having the right gear is critical to your safety and success in outdoor climbing. Here’s a checklist of some things that you should have when you go climbing, whether on your own or with a climbing tour agency:
4. Climb with Experienced Partners When you’re new to outdoor climbing, going with a guide or an experienced climber is one of the best ways to ensure your safety and learning. Experienced climbers can teach you how to safely navigate outdoor routes, set up anchors, and manage your equipment. They can also introduce you to beginner-friendly climbing areas where you can build confidence on easier routes. Learning from someone with experience helps you avoid common mistakes and accelerates your learning curve. 5. Respect and Enjoy the Outdoor Environment Outdoor climbing isn’t just about the physical challenge; it’s also about appreciating and respecting the natural environment. As you climb, take time to enjoy the beauty around you—the sounds of nature, the fresh air, and the views from the top. Practice the Leave No Trace principles by packing out all your trash, staying on designated trails, and respecting wildlife. The climbing community shares these spaces with the local community, so it’s important to be mindful and considerate of the environment and other people.  Helmets are helpful to stay safe! Photo credited to Lydiascapes Conclusion: Begin Your Outdoor Climbing Adventure
Outdoor rock climbing is an adventure that offers a unique blend of physical challenge, mental stimulation, and natural beauty. While it requires more preparation and caution than indoor climbing, the rewards are well worth the effort. By focusing on safety, starting with the basics, equipping yourself properly, climbing with reputable climbing tour companies, and respecting the environment, you’ll set yourself up for a successful and enjoyable outdoor climbing experience. Whether your goal is to scale stunning caves in Cambodia or beautiful crags in Spain, outdoor climbing provides endless opportunities for personal growth and discovery. So, gear up, stay safe, and embrace the adventure as you take your first steps into the world of outdoor rock climbing. Photos credited to Lydiascapes Your heart rate picks up, beating loud enough for you to hear. Your limbs start shaking - first your hands, then your legs. You can’t hold on any longer, but also you’re too afraid to let go! And before you know it, you’re off the wall…falling! No matter how you feel about falling, there’s no denying that it is an integral part of climbing. We climb and we fall - it’s just how it goes! But there is fear and anxiety attached to this that we all have to work through at some point or another. The fear of falling can hinder us from truly enjoying our climb, especially on lead climbing when you will likely experience a bigger fall (i.e. falling a greater amount) compared to bouldering and top rope climbing. While it is completely natural to experience this nerve-wrecking sensation when we are on the walls, we know it can be tackled with some training. Here are three training tips you can start with to help conquer your fear of falling:
2. Practice Control Falling: Get into a position on the wall where you are ready to let go, and then do just that - let go! This is also a great practice in trusting your belayer to catch you! You need to see for yourself that the fall isn’t going to hurt you! Falling in a controlled setting (no matter how small the fall) is an incredibly effective way to manage your fears and how you have built-up the idea of falling in your own head. 3. Normalize your fear Even professional climbers get scared too! Remind yourself that being scared is normal and repeat this to yourself when you’re on those walls. Fear is a natural part of any learning process. And we all know that the more we do something, the less the fear and nerves take over. So keep practicing - you got this!
Bonus tip: Build confidence in your grip strength. This comes with practice and training, but we are stronger than we think we are! It’s easy to forget what our body is capable of in the midst of fear. We hesitate to make certain moves because we are afraid to fall on a reach up to the next hold. The chance of us successfully grabbing that hold is pretty high in any other situation, but the fear casts doubts.
Recognizing that climbing is both a mental and physical game, we hope these tips help you in alleviating your fears. Understanding alone means nothing, so implementation is key! So save this article so you can apply these tips practically on our walls when we open again. See you on those (high) walls! The first time I went to Phnom Climb, it was ladies’ night. There were women everywhere, lacing up their climbing shoes, dusting their hands with chalk, and eyeing the bouldering wall with a critical eye. Most of them looked like they already knew what they were doing, which made me even more nervous as I walked up to the front desk with my friend. It seemed like the ideal night to go – it was at a discounted price, and I wouldn’t have to go alone. I quickly found a place to sit and put on my rental climbing shoes, preparing to approach the boulder wall with a bit of trepidation. I was excited, and I enjoy trying new things, but for some reason the idea of climbing a wall in front of strangers felt intimidating.
I know this feeling, I’ve felt it many times over the last year, and in many ways, it’s what I felt that first day on the bouldering wall. But the thing that made it easier that day, is the same thing that is getting me through life right now. Community. Encouragement. Perseverance.
That is what Phnom Climb did for me that first day, and what I see it has continued to do for the community in Phnom Penh. If you would like to hear more or see how you can get involved when they open up again, please contact them at [email protected]. I still remember how I felt going home that evening after I turned in my climbing shoes: tired, grateful, and exhausted. Taking a chance, climbing, and walking into the unknown can be intimidating. But if you lean into your fears, you may just find yourself at the top of a wall beaming down at those who helped get you to the top. Written by: Kaitlyn Speer I would be remiss if I didn’t start this blog with: “And what a year it has been…” Despite everyone saying it multiple times this year, it doesn’t make it any less true. Gearing up for change Even without COVID, 2020 was always going to be a year of transition for Phnom Climb. Mary and Christoph’s (our founders/owners) departure from Cambodia (to move back to Switzerland) was fast approaching, and the gym’s future was somewhat up in the air. Whatever was decided in terms of ownership and management, transition was looming. The year started out normal – strong actually. The team had reached a milestone of 100 members in February, and 2020 was projected to be the best financial year of the gym thus far. We also hosted the first-ever Sva Prey Bouldering Competition! This brought together competitors from Thailand, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, not to mention an awesome route-setting team from Malaysia! March was definitely the turning point! In the span of 3 weeks, 4 major things happened:
Now, the questions were: What do we do to ensure the gym survives this closure, and what would the team do in the meantime?
Happy, happy summer! Summer was another drastic 180! In the past, summers were always slower months for the gym given that school programs had ended and many expat families and adults would leave for summer vacation. COVID obviously changed all this, and our summer months were packed with kids coming to climb every day! Our coaches regularly had to double up on shifts!
And now for 2021… Three closures in one year would make anyone nervous, and I was often asked by our community members: “Are things back to normal?” My response was always to awkwardly laugh-shrug and say: “I don’t know what normal is…I started this job and COVID immediately hit. THIS is my normal!” But if anything is clear, this was a year of change and milestones - good and bad, often so intertwined you couldn’t tell the difference.
2021 is uncertain - there is no point of reference, no baseline, no crystal ball. We can only continue to work our a$$es off and be cautiously optimistic (aka. realistically hopeful). Moving forward is the only way to go, and we’ll have to wait and see what new milestones lay ahead (alongside a few obstacles...just to keep things interesting)! Climb on!  Celebrating PCCG's 5-year anniversary in October!
Our suggestions: Remember that you can always take breaks on the wall! When you are in a comfortable position (say a good hand hold or balanced body position), let go of one arm and as Tay Swift says, "shake if off!" Then, switch arms and do the same with the other. This is a great way to relief some pressure while you're still on the wall.
 Pour un Sourire d’Enfant is a large organisation with educational programs from kindergarten to vocational training in and around Cambodia. All programs are set up to support the schooling of around 7000 students every year, and amongst them, the extracurricular activities program offers different sports and cultural activities to maintain the focus and motivation in school. All connected through the same ideas: teach values while having fun and learning by playing. So when Phnom Climb Community Gym offered us the opportunity to bring a group of students regularly, we couldn’t be happier. We just needed to explain the activity to the children. Easier said than done.
The first reaction of the children at school when told there was a climbing activity was disbelief, followed by curiosity and an endless torrent of questions: what are we climbing? How is that a sport? Is there a competition? Most of the students at PSE were brought up with the bare minimum in the outskirts of Phnom Penh or the province. Climbing when they were small wasn’t really about fun, but rather a way to get a juicy snack from the neighbouring trees. The challenge is even bigger considering that climbing is such a new sport in Cambodia that it doesn’t really have a proper name. It is normally translated as “going up a mountain” and climbing in a gym is simply “going up a wall”. This cultural gap made the children imagine that climbing was a foreign thing, like running for fun, eating bread and wearing shoes indoors. In order to explain it, they had to see it by themselves. But as soon as they accessed the gym, their confusion turned into amazement when they first arrived and saw the shining holds and colourful walls, and eventually into admiration when they saw that the place was run entirely by Cambodian youngsters from Siem Reap that grew up climbing mango and cashew trees just like them. This wasn’t a foreign activity, this was for everyone. It’s been almost a year and a half since the PSE students started climbing and it’s become such a varied group. Most of the students change monthly but there is always the hard core: there’s Vannara, an 11 year old from Sihanoukville that started out of curiosity and is now one of the strongest climbers of the group. She’s used that same curiosity to start other sports back in school and is an accomplished student; there’s Kimrong, a 15 year old from Siem Reap that has a hard time fitting in school and back home and is the most helpful belayer of the group; there’s Mit, a short 11 year old from Sihanoukville who’s built a strong confidence based on his climbing ability despite his size; and then there’s Mon, a problematic 16 year old from Phnom Penh that struggles in school and yet turns into the most disciplined and focused person the moment he stares into the bouldering walls. They’ve all learned to work hard, dedicating themselves every time they put on the climbing shoes and, as Mon puts it: “even if you’re surrounded by people, you’re competing against yourself.” Do you also believe that climbing can change a life? Talk to us if you are interested in directly supporting a climber! Write us an email or contact us. Since 2016 Phnom Climb Community Gym has been working together with Chibodia e.V. The older children of the Children’s Home are allowed to go there every afternoon to practice climbing. They were taught how to climb better and learned a lot of skills. The climbing is a really good practice for their development. It is not only about their physical development. Yes, they are getting stronger and are in good condition. But they also learn things about working together, helping each other and looking out for each other. They have to work together, be considerate, and pay attention to each other, especially when they are safeguarding/belaying each other. During climbing they also learn about how they can solve problems, first to think and then to do something and to be flexible if something does not work out like they thought before. They also learn not to give up when it doesn’t work immediately, but rather try again and again until it works out. So they are learning a lot about themselves and are getting more life skills, which will be useful in their future. Our children got more self-confidence and knowledge about their strengths, skills and opportunities. One of our oldest boys also got a job at the Climbing Hall. He studies at school and he works there part-time. So he gets more positive experiences, develops his personality and can learn about the working-life. With the money he gets, he supports his family and also he is saving the money to buy a moto in the future. So he is learning how to deal with bigger amounts of money and how to save money for the future. These experiences can help him later, when he has finished High School and starts to study at the university. Then he will already know how to connect learning and working during a day. And also a young woman, who lived as a child in Chibodia, works at the Phnom Climb Community Gym. She studies at the university in Phnom Penh and also works there. So she can pay for her own expenses. During different climbing competitions, they showed their skills and abilities. This also shows the good teaching-quality of the climbing-teachers at Phnom Climb. Phnom Climb launched its first climbing competition this month. There was everything: Exciting climbs, great contestants, good food and fun prizes! Tarzan, the guy who swings from tree to tree in the jungle. He is starring in a brand new movie showing in the theaters. To celebrate the opening of the Tarzan Movie in Cambodia, Phnom Climb organized a climbing competition together with Westec Media. It was the first event of this kind at Phnom Climb. Climbing competitions have been carried out in the following categories:
We are proud of all participants and especially of the winners who have been working hard for their merits! Another highlight of the event was the fantastic supply of food and drinks from Lot369 (coffee geeks and healthy drinks), Crumbs (addictive cookies) and Trattoria Bello (home made pasta!!) Also a shout out to all the Phnom Climb volunteer who did a fantastic job. This event would not have happen without you! #Climberslove Check out the pictures and find more pictures on the Westec Blog Many of you have already seen our lead and top rope climbing walls. They have been up for a while now. But we were not yet able to open them to the public yet, because they have not yet been tested. Testing for what? For your safety! A climbing wall is high and climbers are secured with ropes. When a climber falls, a multitude of his bodyweight is forced onto the rope and the safety points. For this we have to ensure that the safety points, where the ropes are attached to, can withstand sufficient weight. The industry standard defines that every safety point (anchor or top rope bar) has to be tested with a static load of 800 kg (1750 lbs). With AE Consuts, we had a reliable and experienced engineering partner on our side. They helped us with the planning and the welding and the testing of the welds so that we eventually arrived at the point where we were ready for the load tests. The Phnom Climb team has been working hard to test every safety point. We are excited that every test has passed successfully! This means we will be ready to open our lead and top rope walls any time soon!  This is an interview conducted by the Bouldering Babes from New York, US, with the Phnom Climb Co-Owner Mary.
Read the full article here Every so often, we’ll interview extraordinary girls doing extraordinary things: this isGirl Crush. This week, we’re thrilled to feature Cambodia-based climbing entrepreneur Mary Lüthy, whose passion project is Phnom Climb, Phnom Penh’s first rock climbing gym. Mary is super stoked about rock climbing because it builds community, a safe and supportive environment, trust, self-esteem, confidence and perseverance amongst locals and expats climber BB: How did your love affair with climbing begin? Was it love at first sight?. ML: In my first year of teaching in NYC, my friend invited me to travel with her to Chiang Mai, Thailand over my summer break. She had some work meeting, so I looked for things to do and found that I could get out of town and go rock climbing with a guide. Besides the fact that my guide was super hot, I fell in love with climbing right away. It felt so natural getting to the top and I loved the views! Whenever I get to the top of a climb, I always take a few seconds to take in the view. One of my favorite places to climb is The Gunks during autumn. BB: How has rock climbing changed and shaped your life? ML: I’ve always been quite skinny and felt awkward for my small wrists and long arms. It wasn’t until I climbed that I felt strong and appreciated my body. I love the excitement of finishing a hard climb after working at it and I feel so accomplished! It’s made me more of a risk taker and to take life more lightly. Read the entire article on the Bouldering Babes Blog |
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