Scaling the popularity stakes

Up until about a handful of years ago, says Damien O’Sullivan, you might have got 50 or 60 people out climbing in Dublin on a weekend day, and perhaps as many more around the country.

Nowadays, you will often get 500 or more. They’re either rock climbing in Dalkey or Glendalough or Fair Head in Co Antrim or Alladie in Co Clare; or bouldering in a myriad of sites around Co Wicklow; or using the growing number of indoor climbing and bouldering walls – of which the impressive Gravity in Inchicore and the tremendous Awesome Walls in Finglas are the latest and shiniest additions.

Fastest-growing sports
Vertical climbing has gone from being a tiny niche activity (with a small cohort of enthusiasts) to being one of the country's fastest-growing sports with thousands of participants.

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Andy Kelly competing at the ODON Irish Lead Climbing Championship at Awesome Walls, Dublin. Photograph: John Banyard

O'Sullivan, the talent development officer of Mountaineering Ireland, is a climber himself and has witnessed its burgeoning popularity at first hand.

It might not yet be the second most popular sporting activity, as it is in Austria, nor a national sport, as it in France, but Ireland has some of the best cliff-faces and crags for rock-climbing in the world, including the extraordinary and difficult cliffs of Fair Head.

“I suppose the increase in popularity is a combination of a bunch of things. There has been a move towards more outdoor sports and less team sports. New facilities have been built like Awesome, Gravity and Play at Height [in Dingle]. Bouldering is becoming more popular. There is better gear, there are better mats and more opportunities,” says O’Sullivan.

Bouldering is more technical climbing that is done without a rope and usually involves a “problem” that can be overcome in a few moves. The routes don’t go very high and protection from a fall is provided by a thick mat.

Indoor and sports climbing involves using a rope, harness and tight-fitting rock shoes with pointed rubber soles. The climber clips the rope into bolted carabiners dotting the upward route during ascent. In outdoor traditional climbing, there are no bolts – climbers place nuts or injection-like camming devices into cracks and fissures in the rock as they progress upwards.

O’Sullivan says the attractions of the sport are many. “It is a gender-neutral sport. It does not matter what age you are or what body type you have.”

Brightest talents
The proof of that was the ODON Irish Lead Climbing Championship held in Awesome Walls recently.

One of the brightest talents is 16-year old Dominic Burns from Rosetta in Belfast who is ranked number one in the world for bouldering in his age group (a massive achievement considering that millions climb across the world). He came second in the senior competition to another amazing climber, Alex Waterhouse.

At the other end of the age spectrum, there is the legendary Irish climber Calvin Torrans, who won the veteran competition at 67, and is still climbing at very high grades.

Burns is sinewy, flexible and technically strong. He started only four years ago through a youth club and was immediately hooked. His coach is another leading Irish climber, Eddie Cooper, and he trains three times a week. He is at the stage now where his training is very specific.

“One of my weaknesses is that my hands are not as strong as they should be. I am doing a lot of training on very small crimpy holds to build up my hand strength.”

This is the second year that Burns has held the number one world ranking in his age group. Why is obvious. Last summer he climbed a famous 8A+ climb in France’s renowned Fontainebleau bouldering area called Partage. He also climbed a 8B+ bouldering route in the South of France six weeks ago.

When one considers that the highest grade in bouldering is 8C+, the scale of his achievement becomes apparent.

There’s an assumption that climbing is all about upper body strength but O’Sullivan says that is only part of the picture.

“It’s a very balancing sport. It’s an all-over body workout with a focus on the arms and upper body.

“You need a lot of flexibility and balance. It’s mentally very engaging.

“It requires a lot of concentrations and a lot of focus. In recent studies, intense climbing was up there with heavy aerobic workouts such as running in terms of burning more calories.”

Mental element
The mental element is also very important and climbers need to have the courage to go for a hold they may not reach knowing they will take a fall until the rope catches.

“It is calculated risk taking. You are constantly weighing up. It’s the opposite of Nike. You just don’t do it.”

O’Sullivan is focusing on building up the climbing competition circuit, developing a network of good coaches around the country and developing talent, either through national squads or at local level.

It’s a sport that calls for a mix of strength, litheness and flexibility, balance, problem-solving and fire-in-the-belly. Height exposure and the slight sense of danger also add a frisson. But there is no denying its popularity.

With new climbing walls cropping up, and hundreds of crags yet to be discovered, its popularity is sure to increase.