From a Mall Climbing Wall to the National Team.
In 2007, I was 22 and had never touched a climbing wall. I discovered the sport by accident in a small mall gym. One session in, I was hooked. I didn't have a coach. I didn't have a plan. I just kept showing up, every week, chasing the feeling of solving a route with my body.
The next 18 years weren't a straight line. Injuries knocked me back. Comebacks rebuilt me. I trained in dusty gyms, on limestone crags, and on rope-access towers when the walls closed. Every setback taught me the same lesson: climbing rewards the ones who stay in the game.
Eventually I earned my spot on the Philippine National Climbing Team, representing the flag I grew up under. Today I coach at Power Up Alabang, and I teach the way I wish someone had taught me: patient, honest, technical, and built around you.
"Climbing is not just a hobby. It's already a part of me."