Reaching New Heights And Feeling Boulder

Unleash Your Inner Spider-Monkey at Klifurhúsið

There is something sort of primal about looking up at a big rock, or cliffside, or a tree and thinking to yourself “I could climb that.” That’s when impulse control typically kicks in. I myself have failed often enough to keep that impulse in check and have thus sought out the safer and more socially acceptable variant of distancing my inner chimp from imaginary predators. In my ongoing chase to check out and champion the most cheerful of challenges against chagrin I caught up with Benjamin Mokry, teacher, route setter and CEO of the climbing hall Klifurhúsið.

“I have been climbing for 22 years now,” Benjamin says. “I used to play football back home in Germany but then had knee surgery. My Mom gave me a book by mountaineer Joe Simpson and from then on I couldn’t think of anything else. Back then, the internet was just starting so it was a bit hard to find information, but there were the Alpine clubs of course, they have walls, so my wife and I took a class together and I was hooked.”

After living in Copenhagen for six years, and witnessing the evolution of the sport and the emergence of more and more commercial gyms outfitted with climbing walls, Benjamin eventually moved to Iceland where things are still comparatively club-based. Though, according to Benjamin, the sport is gaining increasingly in popularity.

Asked about the appeal and the sensation of scaling a wall, Benjamin describes both the individual focus involved and the communal aspect of the practice.

“I don’t think about anything else. I can cut loose on all the daily problems and really focus on just climbing,” he says. “And it’s a really nice community too. You might pursue climbing for yourself but you are always surrounded by friends or people from all walks of life — the atmosphere is really nice.”

“Then there’s the problem solving aspect, which I like a lot because the idea is so applicable to life,” he continues. “There is a problem and there is always a way to somehow manage it. That’s the beauty of climbing. Especially in bouldering. There is always a problem, you try to figure it out and might have to try a new or different solution — but there always is one.”

There are, of course, different types of climbing, such as bouldering, where it’s just you and the wall and some chalk; rope climbing, which includes a harness, carabiners, quickdraws (a type of extender) and a belay device to control the rope; lead climbing, which involves moving along set anchors on a higher wall and a partner (aka belayer) on the ground; and multi-pitch climbing, which requires more than one rope length.

Then there are the outdoor iterations of these. Outdoor bouldering, for example, necessitates bringing along a crash pad (which still only covers a certain amount of ground) and to double check the environment.

“You have to see how the landings are,” Benjamin tells me. “You have to check the top outs (angle changes), you have to see how the gripping holes are and where they are, put in some chalk to know where they are and things like that. There are some areas around here and all around Iceland that are also in guide books.” An encouraging prospect for those of us who have been eyeing the bold rocky landscape Iceland has to offer.

Benjamin emphasises how welcoming the climbing halls apparently are, promising a place for people from all over the world, students, families (particularly parents that got roped in by their kids) and pretty much anyone else to hang (literally) out.

“Climbing is sort of everything for me,” he says. “I travel for climbing, it keeps me going, it’s pretty much a lifestyle choice I would say.” If it’s a lifestyle you’re interested in adopting, you can be certain it’ll take you to new heights.

Want more people doing strange stuff? Check out more of our On The Fringes series.