Climbing in Osaka
Since I started climbing, I've gone to a handful of climbing gyms around my area as well as a variety of outdoor crags. As much as I love my home gym, it is considerably smaller than other gyms around and has gotten quite crowded since Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgensen's free climb of Dawn Wall. Different gyms offered different setters, different walls, and styles of climbing, so when I booked my trip to Japan I I knew I had to check out at least one climbing gym. I had originally planned on going to B-Pump in Akihabara, so going to this gym in Osaka was by sheer coincidence. My travelmate had booked an AirBnB near a train station in Osaka, and messaged the host telling a bit about us, saying that we were all avid rock climbers.
Our host responded with, " Cool! There is a famous climbing gym nearby, called Galera!"
We checked the map, and it was only a mile away, so we went!
Tucked away in the smaller streets and old warehouses by the river behind Taisho train station, sat Galera. We each paid 1500 yen for a 3 hour pass (2000yen for a full day) and got to climbing.
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This is what we took away from our 3 hours at Galera:
The grading is different. They use a kyu/dan scale, with 10kyu being the easiest, with increasing difficulty as the number decreases. At this gym (or perhaps most gyms in Japan), each level is designated a specific color. For example, all 10kyu routes were blue, and all 9kyu routes were pink, etc,.
Not all routes are hand and feet restricted, so for many beginner routes the climber was allowed to use any hold as a foot hold. I forget the term they wrote at the start hold to signify all feet on, but it was very subtle to the point that my friends and I struggled with an equivalent of a V2 because it felt so awkward going through the route with the holds we thought we were given. Other routes had some holds that were hands only, while others were both hands and feet. Sigh.
Some routes were numbered rather than taped. Some went in increasing order (follow the number), while other routes all had the same number.
The walls weren't tall, but problems were all very technical. Even the easiest of routes involved more flagging and hip turning than any gym I've been to in the states.
Going off #2, Japanese climbers are strong AF. I watched them make up routes in the overhang section of the gym and was inspired by their sheer grip strength, and the moves they made. Each move was calculated and precise. There was only one female Japanese climber in the gym, and she was climbing just as strong as the rest of the guys.
There was a big sense of community present. This is what drew me into climbing when I first started bouldering, and I was happy to see it present in other countries. Since this was such a small gym, it seemed that 90% of the climbers inside were regulars who all knew each other. Everybody was friendly, encouraged each other, and worked together on routes. When I finally managed to finish this tricky route, one of the other climbers who was working on that same route clapped and congratulated me.
So so so many holds. Most Japanese climbing gyms are pretty small, so they really try to make the most out of their wall space. You can see it in the photo -- there is literally no free bolt holes inside the overhang to add holds.
Although regrettably, I was not able to visit any other gyms during my trip in Japan, I'm excited to go back to hit up other gyms when I can. B-Pump in Akihabara will have to be saved for another time.
Featured Photo: Dotonburi at Night with the Glico man, May 2015
Galera Climbing Gym 2 Chome-9-30 Sangenyahigashi, Taisho Ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture 551-0002, Japan Hours: 2pm - 11pm Weekdays 10am - 9pm Weekends
クライミングジム ガレーラ 大阪市大正区三軒家東2-9-30