Mission Cliffs climbing gym is one of the many reason’s I love San Francisco. I’ve dabbled with climbing since high-school but until recently the logistics of climbing just weren’t in my favor. Oddly enough, Beijing had a decent outdoor climbing wall at Ritan Gong Yun (Park) and a growing expat climbing community. I climbed there for a summer before moving to Shanghai which was sufficient time to plant the seed firmly in my head that it’s a very gratifying sport. The preparation, strategy, technique, hurdles and triumphs…for me it’s as mentally challenging as it is physical…save for surfing, I think it’s unlike any other sport I’ve tried.

Rina took the “Climber of the day award” when she ascended her first 5.10a, a feat that was quite impressive!