Germany
participants
The goal was to have the Erasmus students get to know bouldering as a (not yet very popular) sport.
Also, we wanted to show them the Flashh Boulder spot in Hamburg so they would know about the place and get a feeling for the exciting "hidden" places that one can find in Hamburg.
Of course, sport events are always a fun experience, but also a bonding activity. Since climbing was involved, the students had the opportunity to overcome their own fears and push themselves beyond their limits, with the support of the other attendees.
We met with a group of eleven people at the boulder spot and after we got the instructions, we started casually trying out the easy routes.
Although some participants already struggled a bit at the low levels, they eventually started to improve and had the courage to try out more difficult routes.
Luckily, we had some participants with more experience who could help and encourage the less experienced very well.
It is always great to have people at the same level as you climbing alongside you, but also very helpful to have more experienced climbers providing a feeling of security and motivation.
We enjoyed ourselves, getting to know each other better and supporting each other face new physical challenges.
Finally, when we all were out of energy and forearm-force, we went for some dinner together.
The group bonded a lot and the participants had fun pushing their own and each others limits.
Our impression is that it is really helpful to have experienced participants. A paid instruction by an employee at the spot would have been way too expensive and also bouldering is not that hard once you get the hang of it.
We introduced some of the participants to a possible new hobby and showed the boulderers amongst us a fancy spot to work out.
Recommendations:
- Take long pants with you (Leggins, Joggers, ...), you could scratch your legs at the walls.
- Cut your nails short!
- Raise awareness about security! (Always climb down, jump only when necessary, check the floor when jumping, look out for others, ... - instructions will be given to you at the service desk, if not, ask them!)