On a trip to Patagonia, I learnt that climbing wasn’t just about struggling and having fun.
There was something else too.
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-1.png)
Patagonia is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.
![Patagonia climbing torres del paine](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-2.png)
But there was one thing we didn’t expect when we went there.
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-3.png)
It’s windy.
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-4.png)
Like, seriously windy.
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-5.png)
We walked to The Central Tower over 7 days.
And for 10 days, we inched our way up, driven by the irony that we could only be rescued by ourselves.
![Patagonia climbing](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-6.png)
The days blew by, merging into a wicked blur of cut ropes, rockfall and bad weather.
![Patagonia big wall climbing](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-7.png)
But as we approached the summit, the wind calmed, the sky cleared.
An incredible landscape unfolded around us.
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-8.png)
On the top of a kilometer-high granite tower in the middle of the Patagonian wilderness, a sense of peace and exhilaration captured me in ways I could never have imagined.
![VDiff Climbing why i climb big rocks](https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/wp-content/images/fun/why-i-climb-freedom/why-i-climb-big-rocks-freedom-9.png)
Freedom in it’s purest form.