REPOST: If Climbing is a Religion by Bidz Dela Cruz (2010)

a literary work by a climber and good friend 
Bidz Dela Cruz

Bidz Dela Cruz, my good friend 

g If Climbing is a Religion
g By Bidz Dela Cruz 2010 
    

g If Rock Climbing is a religion, then having non-calloused hands is a sin. Swimming everyday would 
g have some negative karmic influences on your spiritual growth. A backslide would happen if you start 
g abstaining from visiting the sacred place of wall climbing gyms and rock altars of the outdoors. And 
g given the small community of rock climbers in the country, it would be a cult in the Philippines. The 
g pastors would be the gym instructors and if your spiritual growth is stagnant, either you are not 
g listening to their sermons or your pastor is lazy enough to teach you the way of climbing more 
g divinely. The latter somehow is a bit natural in other wall climbing churches where the pastor is way
g past his prime years or is insecure that you’ll spiritually mature fast and replace his post as a climbing 
g pastor.
   

g This is the kind of religion where members are debunking that Kurt Cobain is a rock star. It would 
g have a bible where Genesis is written by Walter Parry Haskett Smith but Adam and Eve originated 
g from China in the 400 B.C. Abraham would have a name of Owen Glynne Jones and he would have 
g attempted to sacrifice his son Isaac on the Kern Knotts Crack. It’s a good thing that Great Gables are 
g blessed with mountain goats that are elusive to the human eye. They only show themselves to those 
g atoned with the mountain, those who have the mountain goat spirit in them. But it is still Yosimite 
g Valley that would be Mt. Sinai where the Anasazis are the ones circling it for 40 years, not the 
g Israelites. 
   
g The New Testament would be written by Bern Arnold and the four gospels would be from Paul 
g Preuss, Geoffrey Winthrop Young, Siegfried Herford, Robert L. M. Underhill (the latter was the one 
g whose influenced reached the west coast of the United States).
   
g Rock Climbing in the Philippines was popularized by Bubut Tan-Torres, a UP Mountaineers member 
g and is considered as a demigod in the climbing community. But much respect is given to Joey Cuerdo 
g (owner of Power-Up Gym and also a member of the UP Mountaineers), if not for him, there would be 
g no developed rock climbing community in the Philippines now.
   
g If Rock Climbing is a religion, then Philippines would be one of the countries where its followers are 
g so close to each other, like having a second family. Here, even in competitions, you will see climbers 
g supporting their rivals, cheering them on and giving them beta (shouting directions on how to solve 
g and what to do with the given route). This is the kind of religious community that would easily attract 
g new members, one where you are always welcome even if you don’t know anyone else inside.
    
g So if Rock Climbing is a religion, who then would be the most religious one? Is it those who faithfully 
g frequent the indoor climbing cathedrals and outdoor crag altars, or those whose level of skills would 
g almost be at par with the demigod Chris Sharma?
    
g Like in any other religion, I believe that a faithful servant is one that lives mindfully of others and of 
g the environment where he/she has his/her ecological activities. This is the kind of follower that is 
g conscious of his/her actions, seeking balance in his/her life, respecting the natural environment, and is 
g giving back the opportunities he/she has been granted. As climbers, the power and importance of 
g nature is all too evident – the outdoors is where we neutralize stress, play, and relax. Our altars are so 
g magnificent that some natural limestone blocs dwarf the homes nestled between them. Because of this, 
g it is but sensible to propagate the idea that taking care of our natural environment and resources has a 
g diastolic relationship with the longevity of climbing and recreation benefits we get from them. A good 
g climber therefore is one that hones his/her skills vis-à-vis the natural environment he/she is obliged to 
g preserve for the succeeding generations because he/she doesn’t want that time to come where outdoors 
g are simply just pictures in a book. It is this atonement with nature that truly defines a climber, and that 
g is why not everybody can become a climber. Climbing is a calling. This is the type of calling where 
g you hear the spirit of Mother Nature whispering in your ear when you find yourself in the outdoors 
g telling you to climb her jugs.
    
g As I amble the streets of my neighborhood and see scores and scores of men playing basketball in 
g almost every vacant lot where a makeshift court is erected, I sense the feeling that every climber is lofty 
g about. Indeed, we are a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). With the given population of rock climbers 
g juxtaposed with the Philippine population, it is safe to assume that one ordinary rock climber is already 
g at the upper 5% of the country’s population in terms of climbing skills and respect with the 
g environment. Thus the codex engraved in each of the climbers’ hearts, when deciphered, would read: 
g Anybody can play a ball, but not everybody can climb a wall.