What begins as a test of strength and technique is becoming something more for a growing number of Metro Manila climbers: a chance to meet people, solve problems together, and find a community beyond the wall.
Kevin Amparado, a 22-year-old DevOps engineer, had no intention of climbing that afternoon. It was around 4 p.m., and he and his coworkers were wrapping up another day. Some were heading to Climb Central Manila (CCM) in Greenfield District, Mandaluyong City.
Amparado and a colleague initially decided to follow them just to watch, but changed their minds upon arriving. Still wearing his company shirt and skinny jeans, Amparado bought a day pass and attempted his first climb.
“I wasn’t even supposed to be climbing in the first place,” he recalled. He had quickly discovered that the sport demanded more than strong arms.
Unable to perform a pull-up when he started, Amparado struggled with beginner routes. Yet the challenge of figuring out where to put his hands and feet, how to shift his weight, and how to move efficiently kept him returning.
What began as an unplanned after-work activity developed into a regular pursuit, bringing physical challenges and new acquaintances along the way. For climbers like Amparado, the sport’s appeal extends beyond reaching the top of a wall.
Across Metro Manila, indoor climbing and bouldering gyms are attracting people looking for exercise, recreation and something increasingly difficult to find in urban life: a place to connect with others.
A 2025 study involving 125 sport climbers in Metro Manila offers a glimpse of the community’s demographics. Published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, it found that 72.8% of respondents belonged to the 16-30 age group, 20.8% were between 31 and 40, and 6.4% were between 41 and 50. Men accounted for 49.6% of participants, women for 47.2%, and genderqueer or gender-nonconforming respondents for 3.2%.
Although the sample suggests substantial participation by younger adults, the findings are not representative of all climbers in the metropolis.
More than pulling yourself up
For the unfamiliar, indoor climbing can look deceptively simple. A wall is covered with colorful holds, and the objective appears to be getting from the bottom to the top. But the reality is more complicated.
In bouldering, climbers navigate relatively short walls without ropes, with padded flooring beneath them. Roped climbing involves taller routes and protection systems, such as top-rope belaying. Different routes demand different combinations of balance, flexibility, endurance, coordination and strength.
Climb Central Manila has approximately 750 square meters of climbing wall surface, distributed across sections for top-rope climbing, auto-belay, lead climbing and bouldering. The walls feature different inclinations and arrangements of artificial holds, allowing route setters to create climbs requiring varying levels of strength, balance and technique.
International competition specifications provide a useful comparison: The International Federation of Sport Climbing prescribes lead walls at least 15 meters high and bouldering routes no higher than 4.5 meters above the protective mats, with wall construction governed by the EN 12572 standards. These are competition requirements, however, and do not establish the exact dimensions or certification of every recreational climbing gym.
No previous climbing experience is required for CCM’s walk-in sessions, although participants must register and attend a compulsory safety briefing. The gym admits children as young as 5, provided they weigh at least 20 kilograms and stand at least 1.1 meters tall, with adult supervision required for younger climbers.
Its published rules advise comfortable sports attire, preferably knee-length pants, and socks for rented climbing shoes. First-timers use climbing shoes and harnesses; lead climbing requires additional certification.
The gym does not list a general requirement for medical clearance, although participants with injuries or health concerns should assess their fitness for the activity beforehand.
Beta, send, crux
What seems a physical challenge is often a puzzle. Climbers call a particular sequence of movements a “beta,” while successfully completing a climb is called a “send.” The hardest section of a route is its “crux.” Sometimes, moving one foot a few centimeters or shifting the body closer to the wall can make the difference between falling and finishing.
Maintaining a grip also involves more than finger strength. Climbers commonly use magnesium-carbonate chalk to absorb moisture from their hands, while specialized shoes provide friction against footholds.
Basic techniques include pushing upward with the legs instead of relying entirely on the arms, keeping the hips balanced, and straightening the arms when possible to conserve energy. Depending on the route, climbers may use edging, placing the edge of a shoe on a small hold, or smearing, pressing the rubber sole against the wall to generate friction.
Gym staff also maintain the textured holds through cleaning, inspection and periodic replacement.
Routes are assigned difficulty grades based on factors such as the size and spacing of holds, wall angle, required movements and physical demands. Climb Central uses its own “pie” grading system, with one-pie routes representing introductory challenges and higher numbers indicating more demanding climbs.
Other gyms commonly use the V-scale for bouldering, beginning at V0, while roped climbs may use numerical systems such as the Yosemite Decimal System. These ratings are set through route setters’ assessment and testing rather than a universal physical measurement, meaning a route of comparable grade may feel different between gyms and climbers.
“Climbing taught me that the little things matter,” Amparado said.
Joaquin Villegas, 22, a CCM staff member who also climbs, had a similarly humbling introduction. During his first sessions, he watched experienced climbers use difficult routes as warm-ups while he struggled to get halfway through them.
He had never considered himself particularly athletic and had struggled to remain consistent with conventional gym workouts. Climbing changed that.
For Villegas, the sport combined physical exercise with the satisfaction of solving problems. Each failed attempt presented another opportunity to reconsider his movements. A promotional two-week climbing pass encouraged him to return repeatedly. He eventually became so invested in the sport that he joined the gym’s staff.
The appeal, he said, was that exercise no longer felt like an obligation measured in repetitions and sets. But there was another reason to return: the people around him.
Strangers working on the same problem
In a conventional fitness gym, someone might finish a workout without exchanging more than a few words with another person. At a climbing gym, interaction can begin with a failed attempt.
A climber struggles to reach the next hold. Someone resting nearby notices that a different foot placement might help. A suggestion follows. Soon, two strangers are discussing the same route. Amparado believes this shared challenge makes approaching other people easier.
“It is the person versus the wall,” he said. Unlike a competitive match in which one person’s success might mean another’s defeat, a climbing route remains available for everyone to attempt. Climbers can exchange techniques, watch each other’s movements, and celebrate completing the same problem at different times.
Villegas has observed experienced climbers offering advice to beginners while others work together on routes neither has managed to finish. The encouragement has its own vocabulary.
At CCM, climbers can be heard shouting, “Allez!” (a French expression used to cheer someone onward). Amparado and Villegas also described a congratulatory gesture involving touching thumbs, which they call a “check” or “tsek.” These small interactions are part of what gives the sport its communal character.
“There’s a camaraderie between climbers even if they don’t know each other,” Amparado said.
The social mechanisms it identified resemble what Amparado and Villegas describe in Manila: Common challenges create opportunities for conversation, while repeated encounters can gradually turn acquaintances into familiar faces.
A growing landscape
Climbing is not new to the Philippines. Power Up Climbing Gyms traces its operations to 1994, while The Bouldering Hive has operated in Metro Manila since 2019.
What has changed more recently is the range and visibility of indoor facilities. Alongside established venues such as Climb Central Manila and The Bouldering Hive, newer gyms include Boulder Space near Eastwood in Quezon City and Good Climbs at Eton Centris. Other operators have announced additional facilities, indicating continued commercial interest in the sport.
Amparado has observed the change firsthand. When he started, he recalled, there were weekend crowds at The Bouldering Hive’s branches, sometimes reaching capacity by midafternoon. With more facilities available, he believes climbers now have greater freedom to choose where to train.
Crowding is partly determined by the number of climbing lanes, available equipment and safety limits set by each facility. When CCM opened in 2016, published accounts described more than 45 climbing lanes and room for up to 100 climbers. Those historical figures should not be mistaken for its current operating capacity. CCM’s website now warns that the facility may reach its maximum permitted occupancy during weekends and holidays, requiring incoming visitors to queue. It does not publicly specify the current numerical limit.
Amparado’s experience does not establish how much participation has increased across Metro Manila. Reliable, comparable figures covering the number of active climbers over time remain limited. Nevertheless, the expansion of facilities is accompanied by developments in competitive climbing.
In June 2025, Pilipinas Climbing, the sport’s national governing body, held national competitions in bouldering, lead and speed. Bouldering events took place at Flowstate, while Climb Central Manila hosted the lead and speed competitions.
Internationally, climbing’s Olympic profile is also growing. After debuting at Tokyo 2020 and returning at Paris 2024, the sport is scheduled to award six separate medals across boulder, lead and speed at Los Angeles 2028. These developments suggest climbing is becoming more visible both as a recreational activity and as an organized sport.
A third space, with a price
Villegas sees another explanation for the appeal of climbing gyms. He describes them as emerging “third spaces,” places outside home and work where people can spend time with others without needing a formal gathering or special occasion.
In Metro Manila, where daily routines can revolve around work, commuting and returning home, that possibility has particular appeal. A climbing session provides a reason to meet. The shared wall supplies something to talk about. Returning to attempt unfinished routes creates opportunities to see the same people again.
Some gyms are deliberately cultivating that atmosphere. Good Climbs, for example, has organized beginner workshops, small competitions, social gatherings and recreational events. Its official website also advertises an in-house coffee shop, reinforcing its positioning as more than a training facility.
But Villegas acknowledges that these third spaces are “rather expensive.” At Good Climbs, a day pass costs ₱680, excluding its one-time ₱250 membership fee. At Boulder Space, published adult day rates begin at ₱700, with climbing shoes available for an additional charge. For someone climbing several times weekly, costs can accumulate quickly, even before transportation and equipment.
The sport’s physical demands create another barrier. Some beginners assume that climbing requires exceptional upper-body strength. Others may be discouraged by the possibility of falling or sustaining injuries. These concerns are not entirely misplaced.
A 2025 study in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living examined health-seeking behavior among 125 Metro Manila sport climbers and documented self-reported injuries involving the hands, fingers and lower limbs. The researchers cautioned that their findings relied on participants’ reports and were limited by the study’s sampling method. They should not be interpreted as injury rates for every recreational climber.
For beginners, proper instruction, safety briefings and learning how to fall or use climbing protection systems remain essential. A welcoming community cannot replace safe practices.
Beyond the first send
Amparado does not believe climbing’s appeal is limited to its physical demands. He appreciates that progress requires patience and technique rather than strength alone. He also values the familiar faces, encouragement and shared accomplishments that accompany regular sessions.
For Villegas, climbing offers something similar: exercise that feels like play, repeated opportunities to improve, and a community that celebrates effort alongside achievement. Whether climbing becomes a lasting part of Manila’s recreational culture will depend on more than social-media visibility or the opening of fashionable gyms.
Facilities will need to retain beginners, maintain safe environments, make participation financially sustainable, and provide welcoming spaces for climbers of different abilities. There is also a larger possibility. As more people look for meaningful ways to spend time outside work and home, climbing gyms could become communities built around shared challenges rather than shared backgrounds.
Not everyone who enters a gym will leave with a new friend. And not everyone who tries climbing will continue. But Amparado’s experience shows how an ordinary after-work decision can develop into something more enduring. He arrived expecting only to watch his coworkers climb. Instead, he found an activity that challenged him to return, improve and connect with others along the way.
For him, the reason to keep coming back is no longer difficult to explain. The wall gives them something to climb. The people give them a reason to return. CS
Hannah L. Tabunda is a journalism graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman and a contributor to CoverStory. Her interests include feature writing, multimedia journalism, and “stories that explore people, culture, and lived experiences.” She also engages in such combat sports as karate, Muay Thai and boxing, and has taken up bouldering and top-rope climbing.
