I don’t remember how I found @ascend.kw on Instagram, but I do remember being instantly excited by the prospect of indoor climbing in Kuwait, and commented just as much on their social media posts. Ascend responded almost instantly, encouraging me to join them. Even though it was months later, as soon as I saw a gap in my schedule, I took my chance.
The first thing I notice, is that this “indoor climbing club” climbs outside. Built on the walls of what can only be described as a residential property, this space has been created by Ali, who first experienced climbing when he was studying in Dublin many years ago. It’s an eccentric and definitely “out the box” idea, an, “if you build it, they will come” moment. And wow, do they come.
Arriving early, sessions start at 7pm and finish at 10pm, I see a few young men ranging in ages getting warmed up, stretching out and eyeing the wall. This could be intimidating, but they are so jovial, and all smiling in such a genuine way that it puts one at ease. As a group, they are convivial and friendly. Ali takes me and my friend aside – I had roped in a young woman, new to Kuwait to experience this too – and gets us fitted for our pointy wall climbing shoes. These are nothing like the sock-like slip-ons from twenty-five years ago that I remember; these shoes have a hard tip, which should make it easier to hold on to grips in the wall with the feet. Ali shows us his more professional shoes and these are super hard with a claw bend at the end. One can’t help but wonder if the shoes are doing most of the work. But that thought gets banished as soon as you’re clinging for dear life onto a wall, desperately feeling around for your next move.
The various routes up, along and overhanging the wall are color coded for degrees of difficulty and there’s one particular white route which has only ever been conquered by five climbers in the club’s history. This route is not far off the ground and starts with a horizontal traverse, so I give it a try before anything else and to the whooping encouragement of the group. Laughter ensues as I can’t get even my first grip on the wall before falling off. But this is a crowd that laughs with you, so it feels like camaraderie and good old-fashioned innocent fun. Contemplating the gray wall speckled with challenges and threat, I realize these routes could be ten meters off the ground or ten centimeters, but the fear of the fall is just the same. It’s frustrating more than scary. It’s a game of chess, how you approach climbing. You can watch climbers studying the routes before they start, twisting and swinging their bodies once the ascent is underway, planned moves occasionally giving way to daring depending on how strong you feel. There’s a massively thick gym mat ready to catch loose fingered climbers, and Ali and the gang regale me and my friend with piled-high bed-mattress stories from the early days of Ascend.
After about only half an hour my fingers are shaking and I’m bruised but that’s my ego more than anything. I know that climbing is in the legs, not the arms, but I just couldn’t get my weight over my hips to push myself up or across. Maybe climbing is in the head then, in actual fact.
As the evening goes on, even more climbers join the wall, including many women, some veiled, some not. Everyone feels comfortable here, I can’t think of a less intimidating environment. All types of adventurers are present when bazaar is “acending”; aged fifteen to fifty, from climbers giving a wall their first try, to veteran climbers with more than twelve years of experience. Various body types are represented, and personalities too also range across the board, from quiet to serious and even pranksters exist here. But each participant truly engages in the Ascend experience…and they have done all through the Kuwait summer – which really tells you something. They are dedicated to the group, to the cause, to the climb, and it’s not hard to see or feel why. I cannot recommend this club enough; you’ve got to give Ascend Kuwait a try.
Climbing sessions are every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Follow @ascend.kwt on Instagram and DM to book your spot on the outdoor wall.
