Climbing outdoors and indoors
Climbing can take place both outdoors and indoors. Indoor artificial climbing walls were first created by climbers to have a possibility to train even when weather conditions on natural rocks didn’t allow that or when the rocks were just too far away to visit them every day. As a training environment indoor climbing walls offer a great variety. You can change the configuration of climbing holds at your will, creating an endless amount of different climbing routes.
Although at first indoor climbing was just a means for training for real rocks, nowadays indoor climbing has become a wide spread independent sport, in which competitions are held regularly. Since 2020 climbing is officially an Olympic sport.
The discipline of climbing in which a person climbs at a relatively low height (up to 4,5 m) without a rope, but with a crash pad for safety, is called bouldering. And that is exactly what you can do in Tartu Ronimisministeerium.
Climbing is a versatile sport
A climbers challenges on the climbing wall are climbing routes (also called boulder problems). These are routes with varying difficulty and character for which you need strength, flexibility and balance to solve. Often all of them at the same time. And what’s best – it all takes place in a playful way.
Beside the fact that climbing shapes your physique, it also nurtures your mind. Every climbing route is a puzzle and finding the answer to it requires some problem solving skills. In that sense, climbing can be compared to chess. It’s easy to understand how to chess pieces move, but if you don’t foresee the next several movements, you are stuck at a beginner’s level.
In addition to the physical and mental aspects, climbing has a huge social side effect. While climbing you don’t only meet new friends who share the passion, but you also form new partnerships that are different to most sports where your partner is merely you coplayer or opponent. In climbing, partners share dedication and responsibility for one another, while trying to solve the challenges that the rock poses. Mutual efforts, successes and failures create a bond that can last a lifetime.
Estonian boulders
You can find more than a hundred boulders in Estonia, of which at least ten or so are suitable for the active climber. Most of the climbable boulders are at mapped and you can find their topography on 27crag.com website, also on this website and on this map.
For safe outings on our local boulders Tartu Ronimisministeerium offer portable crash pad rent (9 € / day). Keep in mind that most of the boulders in Estonia are under protection and although climbing on them is allowed, it implies the utmost respect for nature. Leave no trace.
For the instructors of Tartu Ronimisministeerium, it is especially important to maintain a bond with outdoor climbing. Every year we organize outdoor climbing trips all around the world. If you wish to discover climbing on natural rocks, then Tartu Ronimisministeerium is your window to that world!