Climbing in Canyonlands National Park in Utah

What Climbing Taught Me About Learning Math

Date: 7/22/2026

I wonder how often, while a teacher is explaining something out on a whiteboard, there is a quiet student in back, silently thinking sincerely about the question at hand, reasoning in their own organic way in a manner different, maybe completely different, than the “expert” in front, only to ultimately lose interest and give up as the teacher continues to talk, more or less to themselves, and demonstrate their approach to the class. The quiet kid then resumes doodling in his or her journal, perhaps sneaks in a glance or two at their smartphone, and all the while the deep-rooted thoughts “I am bad at math” “I am never going to understand this” “I am stupid” remain in the back of the child’s mind. The student’s unique thoughts are never given the light of day, lost possibly forever. What a tragedy. I am convinced, if we gave students a chance to share and explain their sincere thoughts on how they are thinking about something, we might be in more awe than we anticipate. I would even argue that regardless of whether or not their thinking is 100% logically correct, the mere honesty and purity of their thoughts is worthwhile and likely has some truths in them worth exploring. And how much more richer and fun would the classroom be, instead of just one approach towards math, now you have some variety. Maybe the teacher’s approach for one particular concept works for 30% of the students, the quiet kid’s approach makes sense to 50%, and some other kid’s unspoken method works for the remaining 20%. We are all different. We have different backgrounds, come from different cultures, have different interests, have different priorities in our family, why on earth should we all be expected to think alike?

So what does all this have to do with climbing? Climbing, more specifically bouldering, is a discipline where one is presented a “problem” involving some combination of “holds” for your hands and feet on a wall that is roughly 12-16 feet tall where the sole purpose is for the individual to reach the top hold. Side note, if you have never tried climbing/bouldering, and you have the faintest curiosity to do so, I highly recommend it. Similar to problems in math, there are thousands, truthfully endless, amounts of boulder problems with a wide range of difficulty. Also similar to math, in bouldering you are essentially provided with a set of rules you must operate from, rules of gravity and physics, and within those boundaries, you try your best to find a way to transport your body to the last hold. The basic nature of solving a boulder problem is very similar to solving a math problem: you start with an uncertainty, you apply reasoning and perhaps trial and error in an attempt to solve the problem, you fail, you try again, you get help from others if possible, until eventually you “solve” the problem on your own. From personal experience, the satisfaction of solving a challenging math problem is similar to the feeling of solving a boulder problem. There’s a child like sense of “I did it”.

Me Climbing at Balance Prime Boulder Gym

What I think is missing in the math world, which is encouraged in the climbing world, is “finding your own way” when trying to solve an interesting problem. In fact, in the climbing world the more interesting, unique, and weird the approach towards the problem, often the more admiration and respect the climber receives from others. And from the climber’s perspective, there is something incredibly joyful about solving a problem in a unique and unexpected way that others doubted was even possible. Whereas in the math world, many of us may ignorantly, albeit understandably, assume that the problems presented to us have only one way to solve them. “Slope is change in y over change in x, that’s all there is to it”, and the concept of “slope” then becomes dead forever. “For, sine, cosine, and tangent, just remember SOH CAH TOA, that’s all you need”, and the potential richness of sine, cosine, and tangent have now lost their life. They imagine math as some static thing, devoid of creativity and new potentials – this is how the teacher did it, so this is how it must be done. If only we could start approaching math problems with a similar attitude of how climbers approach bouldering problems, then maybe the discipline of math may start to become more alive to others.

Recently, I attended a bouldering competition at my local climbing gym where eight climbers attempted to solve four different boulder problems. It was while observing the climbers on the first problem that the idea for writing this article was born. As I watched the athletes attempt to solve the problem, I noticed ALL eight of them tried to solve the problem in a unique manner. And the more unconventional and surprising the attempt, the louder the response from the crowd. “This is exactly how math should be”, I thought, “people exploring and trying out what makes sense to them, and refining it if it does not ultimately work”. Some climbers would try one method for a few attempts, then play around and try a new method, only to go back to the original method. They were given the freedom to find their way to explore what works and what does not. Some made it to the top, some did not. Regardless, it was clear all learned something from the problem and got stronger as a result of their sincere effort.

Afterwards, I reflected on how the uniqueness of each climber’s “beta” (climbing lingo for one’s particular method of getting to the top) for certain problems made perfect sense given their different heights, arm spans, flexibility or lack thereof, preferred styles, fear levels, and so on. Isn’t it not similar in the math world? Don’t we all have different learning styles, strengths, interests, and ways of thinking? Shouldn’t students be allowed to explore, even if it ultimately does not work, what their intuition is telling them rather than be put down a narrow track that only works well for some? I hope our math culture one day can shift more in the direction of our climbing culture. One that thrives on interesting problems, encourages and rewards unique problem solving, and ultimately is about trying hard and having fun...

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