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Went rock-climbing with a friend the other day. It was not as easy as it looked on TV, and neither was it as difficult as what I imagined in my mind. You need to have relatively strong leg and arm muscles. And finger power too.

It is as much a game of strategy as it is a game of physical agility. When you are plastered against the wall, it is hard to see the rock pieces jutting out. When you are splayed out on all fours, it is difficult to reach out and beyond to that next piece of rock. In some strange way, you need to “plan” your route so you have pieces of rock within your reach at all times. Yet in some other strange way, the more you hang there and “plan”, the more difficult it becomes to scale the rock wall.

After I got over the initial shock of balancing precariously on just four small pieces of rock, it became more an issue of mind over matter. And I was surprised at how the body is able to mould itself onto the rock face like a piece of Velcro.

Or maybe it was just me hanging on for dear life.