Climbing in Helsinki

Hunting for motivation for your everyday chores is an exciting path to take, because the adventure takes you into new places and experiences that might become new hobbies in the end of the day.

This time a new experience for me was climbing. After calling my brother Dick if he's up for it, he was staggered, not because he wasn't up for it, but because he actually thought of the very same thing an hour earlier. We've never climbed together and never talked about doing it either. That's what you get for being a twin; great minds think alike. A call to Pille and Örse later we had 4 motivated guys doing something new.

So we headed to the new climbing arena of Salmisaari in Helsinki where you can try it out on a wall with an automated security wire and climb difficulties of up to 6c (while writing this). In order to be able to climb the other walls you have to have a certificate of being able to secure another person, which none of us had. By the way, with a 30 meter tall climbing wall, the arena holds the record of the tallest climbing wall in Scandinavia (Finland included). This of course was out of the questions for us newcomers.

I've never climbed before. I'm kind of scared of high places. I found new muscles in my body that ache today. My fingers were crippled afterwards for many hours. Still it was such an experience of proving yourself what you can do if you really want to that I'm definitely going to climb again. Being halfway up there thinking how to get to the top, how to leap to the next piece in the wall and pull and push yourself up, using your head and body and determination to prove what you're able to achieve. Priceless.

Not really, it does have a price tag on it. If you're a newbie (=everyone who hasn't got a certificate of securing) then it costs you 20€ to get in (incl rental of shoes and harness, normally 5€). If you have your own gear and certificate you get up there for 12,50€ and between 9-17 for 7€.

See a 360 degree panorama of the climbing environment out here

It's quite of a breathtaking view. Behind the guy with a blue t-shirt and dreadlocks is the wall with an automated security system.

So, as I told you about winter swimming; if you haven't tried this already, what are you waiting for? Go in-joy it!