by Emma O’Neill –
Talking with Bayside Middle School students about writing and the media, Associate Publisher Deborah Rogers challenged them to write articles about what inspires them, with the direction that any pieces that met the criteria would be considered for publication in our August Kids issue. Here, from the point of view of a 14 year old, is the response to the question “What’s your Passion?” Thank you to Ms Moore and all her students. Read on to meet a potential journalist of the future!
As I look down, my heart starts beating faster. My muscles are straining as I make my way to the top and finally grab onto the last hold. As my partner lowers me to the ground, I collapse in exhaustion and get ready to climb my next route.
I climb at The Boulders Climbing Gym at least four times a week, both on a team and with my friends and family. I have been climbing at Boulders for over four years now and plan to keep going for as long as I can. My brother, Ryan, and I grew up climbing everything and eventually my mom signed us up for an introductory lesson at Boulders. We fell in love with it immediately and a week later we joined a team. My mom couldn’t get us home for the longest time because we were having so much fun!
Ryan has been competing successfully for over a year now and is also on Team Canada. The Boulders Climbing Gym, located in Brentwood at Stelly’s Secondary School, is always bustling with friendly people. If you come to climb you’ll be greeted by amazing staff members and they can show you around. The bouldering routes are all colour coded and numbered. The lowest number is one and the highest is 72. The higher the number is the greater difficulty. If you’re just a beginner you can start on one and work your way up. My team members and the staff are like my second family, and I always feel welcome as soon as I step inside. Climbing is my favourite thing to do and you also get a great workout from it. When you finsih a bouldering route you’ve been working on for a long time, you get so excited for what you have acheived, and it’s great because everyone is always encouraging you and giving you high fives. Stelly’s offers a wonderful program called The Climbing Academy, which runs during school and you can either do full year or half year for five days a week. There are great coaches that can help you become a better climber. Even if you’ve never climbed before, you can still join and have lots of fun. Last year Ryan and I even convinced our mom to try climbing and she also got hooked! She now goes a few times a week and has joined Ladies’ Night which runs every Monday. No matter where your physical abilities are at, you should still give climbing a try, because it’s loads of fun!
Emma O’Neill is a 14-year-old grade eight student from Bayside Middle School. She loves to climb, eat food, and draw. She is looking forward to travelling and climbing outdoors in Squamish.
