22/04/2026
Some days in this job stay with me for a long time.
This week I spent time with a customer who has now been back to Climb Wales for his third year running. To protect his identity, let’s call him Alex.
The last time I met Alex, he was battling problems arising from ADHD, school, drugs, and low self-esteem. I’d seen how climbing could amplify what was going on inside him. Frustration, anger, anxiety… it all came crashing out onto the rock. I’ll never forget that young lad who said, “carabiners are my enemy.”
And that’s one of the things that makes climbing so enriching for me: it reflects our internal world back at us. Whatever is happening within tends to show itself more clearly when you climb. If you’re calm and present, you can flow with the rock almost effortlessly. If you’re unsettled or having a bad day, climbing can amplify that too.
This time around, though, as Alex, his dad, and I walked into Cwm Idwal, Alex and I had one of those conversations that reminded me why I value this work so much. We spoke about meditation, Buddhism, Christianity, quantum mechanics, gravity, the universe, and that strange overlap between the outer world and the inner one.
He told me he’d started meditating, and more importantly, he’d started recognising the early signs of anxiety in his body: the rising heart rate, the tension, the onset of fight or flight. By stepping back and observing his thoughts, he’s been learning how to interrupt that spiral before it takes over.
He felt like a different person, and it was a real pleasure to be in his company. Whatever path he’s on at the moment, it’s clearly having a positive impact.
What made the day even more meaningful was that his dad joined us too. At 65 years old, by coming out climbing, he was confronting something that had stayed with him since childhood. And I think there was something powerful in Alex seeing that too. Seeing his dad scared. Seeing his dad struggle. Seeing that fear is not unique, not shameful, and not something that makes you different. Fear is universal, we all meet it in one form or another.
Maybe that’s part of why acts of service matter so much. Walking beside someone for a stretch of their journey. Listening. Encouraging. Holding space. Sometimes that matters more than we realise.
I feel incredibly grateful that this line of work brings me into contact with people like this. People who let me walk alongside them for a brief moment in their journey. People who remind me that climbing is rarely just about climbing.
As we walked away from the crag at the end of the day, something Alex said reminded me to bring my own mind back to the present moment, reflecting that I still have my own mountain to climb too.
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If any part of this resonates with you, and you’d like to experience what time in the mountains can offer, feel free to get in touch.
Sometimes the biggest journeys are the ones happening within.
