One of the greatest gifts in climbing is the beginner’s mind.
When I watch new kids climb in our Hoppers programme, it’s always fascinating. At the start, they use every colour on the wall. Hands here, feet there, whatever works. There’s no concern for routes, grades, or rules. They’re simply solving the problem in front of them.
As their confidence grows, something shifts. They begin to focus on a single colour. Their movement becomes more intentional. Structure comes naturally, built on curiosity and experience, not pressure.
The same thing happens on autobelays. Parents often worry the first time. A child climbs one metre, then comes down. They repeat it. Five times. Ten times. Sometimes fifteen. To an adult, it looks like hesitation or a lack of progress.
But the child is learning.
They’re building confidence, understanding how the holds feel, how their body balances, and how far they can trust themselves. Then, often just as the parent is ready to give up, they turn around, and the child is suddenly at the top of the wall.
No announcement. No breakthrough moment. Just quiet progress.
Somewhere along the way, we lose that approach.
Experience brings expectations. I should be better by now. I shouldn’t be struggling with this. The wall becomes a measure of performance instead of a place to learn, and joy quietly slips away.
Beginner’s mind doesn’t ignore skill or progress. It stays curious. It allows learning to unfold before judgement steps in.
Maybe sometimes, all of us need to return to that beginner’s mindset in climbing. Slow it down. Explore again. And in doing so, we might just start to see progress and results appear naturally.