Bouldering i Brighton! // Bouldering in Brighton!

I går var en særdeles spændende dag. Se, Laura (Schweiz), Valentina (Italien) og jeg prøvede noget kaldt ”bouldering”. Du spørger måske dig selv hvad bouldering er. Jeg havde selv heller ikke hørt betegnelsen før, men du er måske mere bekendt med det end du tror. Bouldering er simpelt bare en form for klatring der er udført uden brug af tov og seletøj, men i stedet bruger man kun et par klatring sko og en taske af kridt over sikkerhedsmåtter. Vi tog til indendørs bouldering – så kunstige klatringsvægge der er brugt for at forestille kampesten problemer i indendørs omgivelser. Udfordringer er klatre ikke ret højt men med vanskelige bouldering ”problemer” (en rute, eller en række af bevægelser) ved brug af balance, teknik, styrke, og din hjerne. Ved brug af kunstige klatring greb, var der udstillet problemer af alle niveauer af sværhedsgrader efter farve-kodet kæder. Bouldering er en strålende form for fysisk træning med brug af all muskler i din krop – ikke kun dine arme. Core styrke er en reel fokus, samt smidighed. Men i modsætning til andre former for træning, er bouldering så sjovt at du måske ikke engang opfatter at du faktisk er i gang med en stor workout – indtil du vågner den næste dag! Hvis du gerne vil vide mere om bouldering, så gå til Boulder Brighton hjemmesiden her, og hav et kig omkring. Du behøver ikke nogen form for erfaring eller en masse dyrt udstyr for at give det et forsøg, hvilket gør det rigtig nemt at prøve af hvis du ikke har prøvet det før.
Laura, Valentina og jeg startede dagen sammen med morgenmad i Wetherspoon. En spoons morgenmad er måske ikke den mest sunde eller næringsrig måltid at kickstarte vores dag på, men det ville i det mindste holde os mætte for resten af dagen. Jeg havde Eggs Royale, hvilket er noget som jeg endnu ikke havde prøvet at få fra Wetherspoons. Som nogle af jer måske husker fik jeg for nyligt taget en blodtest på baggrund af min allergiske reaktion. Hidtil ser det ud til at være et mangel på vitamin D, hvilket primært kommer fra solen, (så Englands vejr kan skamme sig), men kan også komme fra fed fisk og æg, således bestilte jeg Eggs Royale. Jeg elsker både fisk og æg, så det var overhovedet ikke et problem for mig. Efter vores morgenmad tog vi af sted til Brighton da det var det vi skulle gå bouldering. Som sagt, tog vi til Boulder Brighton i Brighton (tydeligvis). Boulder Brighton er en spædendende indendørs bouldering center kun 5 minutters gåtur fra Portslade togstation ved Victoria Road Trading Estate. Heldigvis var Laura og Valentina en smule bedre til orientering end jeg er, da jeg ville have gået den helt forkerte vej.
Vi ankom heldigvis til centreret en lille halv time før vores Get Bouldering session, hvilket startede klokken tre om eftermiddagen. Deres Get Bouldering session er deres voksne introduktion til bouldering (fra +16 år). Sessionen varede i 1 time, og var ledet af en af Boulder Brightons instruktører. Vi var i en gruppe på 10 personer – alle enten helt nye til bouldering eller nylige nybegyndere. Personerne vi var i en gruppe med var super rare, og instruktøren af vores gruppe var også rigtig hjælpsom. Vi startede ved en part af centreret og arbejdede vores vej til den anden ende af centreret. Vi observerede og lærte også fra andre klatrende, og det var virkelig fascinerende at se øvede mænd og kvinder, børn og voksne, bruge hver eneste muskel i deres krop for at klatre – lige fra deres tip af deres fingre til de sidste muskler i deres tæer. Ved enden af sessionen var vi frie til at fortsætte med at klatre indtil centreret lukkede. Vi blev i klatring centreret for en god halvanden time mere indtil vi var absolut ude af stand til at bevæge nogen som helst muskler mere. Jeg gad ikke engang bruge begge af mine arme da vi havde aftensmad senere den aften. Det var dog det hele værd, da bouldering er super sjovt, især med venner, og det er i den grad værd at prøve af hvis man ikke har prøvet det før. Vi vil helt sikkert komme tilbage en dag.

// Yesterday was a very exciting day. You see, Laura (Switzerland), Valentina (Italy), and I went bouldering. You may ask yourself what bouldering is. I personally had not heard of the term before either, but it might be more familiar to you than you think. Bouldering is simple just a form of rock climbing that is performed without the use of ropes or harnesses, but just with the use of climbing shoes and a bag of chalk over safety mats. We did indoor bouldering – so artificial climbing walls that are used to simulate boulder problems in an indoor environment. The challenge is to climb short but tricky bouldering “problems” (a route, or a sequence of moves) using balance, technique, strength, and your brain. Using artificial climbing holds there were problems at all levels of difficulty, organised into colour-coded circuits. Bouldering is a great physical workout, using muscles all over your body – not just your arms. Core strength is a real focus, as is flexibility. But unlike some other forms of exercise, it’s so much fun you might not notice that you’ve had a big workout – until you wake up the next day! If you would like to know more about bouldering, go to the Boulder Brighton website here, and have a look around. You don’t need experience or lots of expensive kit to have a go, making it really easy to get into if you’ve never tried it before.
Laura, Valentina and I started the day together with breakfast at Wetherspoons A spoon’s breakfast might not be the healthiest or nutritious meal to kick-start our day, but it would keep us full for the rest of the day. I had the Eggs Royale, which is something I actually haven’t tried from Wetherspoons before. Some of you may remember that I recently had a blood test taken due to my allergic reaction. So far it seems to be a lack of vitamin D, which mainly comes from the sun, (so shame on England’s weather), but can also come from fat fish and egg, hence why I ordered the Eggs Royale. I do love both fish and egg, so it wasn’t a problem for me at all. After our breakfast meal we headed to Brighton as that was where we were going bouldering. As mentioned before, we went to Boulder Brighton in Brighton (obviously). Boulder Brighton is an exciting indoor bouldering centre just 5 minutes’ walk from Portslade train station on the Victoria Road Trading Estate. Luckily, Laura and Valentina, are a bit better at orientation than I am, since I would have walked the completely wrong direction, (sorry my friends). Anyways, we arrived at the centre just half an hour before our Get Bouldering session which started at 3 pm. The Get Bouldering session is their adult introduction to bouldering (ages 16+). The session was 1 hour long, and was led by one of Boulder Brighton’s instructors. We were in a group of ten 10 people – all either completely new to bouldering or recent beginners. The people who we were with were super nice, and the instructor of our group was really helpful as well. We started from one part of the centre and worked our way to the other end of the centre. We also observed and learned from other climbers, and it was truly fascinating to see skilled men and women, adults and children, using every single muscle in their body to climb – from their very tip of their fingers to the very last bone in their toes. At the end of the session, we were free to carry on climbing until the centre closed. We stayed for a good one and a half hour more until we were so incapable of moving any muscles any more. I didn’t even bother to use both of my arms when we were having dinner later that evening. However, it was totally worth it, because bouldering is super fun, especially with friends, and it is definitely worth trying out if you haven’t done it before. We will certainly go back again one day.