It’s the constant process of progression, the small glimmers of hope and the satisfaction of solving problems that once seemed impossible that have made rock climbing a central part of Nasser Borjaib’s life for the past four years. This sport has transformed him into someone who, as he puts it, “is always hungry for more and never gets enough.”

Often referred to as “Kuwait’s ambassador for rock climbing”, Borjaib stands out as Kuwait’s only competitive rock climber and speed climbing record holder. Yet, he views this as just the beginning. “It’s not like I am done; the job isn’t finished,” Borjaib said. “I need to keep going, especially given the limited resources in Kuwait.”

His goal is to push the sport forward both locally and regionally, setting high standards for others to aim for and surpass. “Winning competitions or getting medals isn’t enough,” he believes. “There are so many more significant achievements possible with a sport, especially one that’s still emerging.”

Borjaib’s competitive journey began in 2021 at the Rock Republic Dubai competition. “I wasn’t expecting much; I was just testing the waters, and I ended up taking first place,” he said. His next achievement came at the Jordan Federations Competition Arab Lead 2022, where he was pleasantly surprised to secure second place among the top climbers in the Arab region.

Nasser Borjaib

Since then, he has competed in various local and international events across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and China. Notably, in China, he made history as the first Arab climber to compete at the Asian Games. As he continues to make strides in his climbing career, Borjaib is now preparing for the World Cup West Asia competition later this year.

Training in his backyard in Kuwait on a climbing wall he built himself, he battled the heated climbing holds that nearly burned his hands in summer. Despite that, his relentless nature kept him climbing, using two air conditioning units and a water cooler to seek refuge near them whenever the heat became unbearable.

Overcoming the limited training resources, Borjaib is making the most of his situation by attending bootcamps abroad with rock climbing experts, engaging in remote mentoring, and watching every World Cup and competition to observe and learn from new climbing problems.

He believes that being genetically gifted is not enough to excel in rock climbing. “I work extremely hard for it,” he said. “Even if you’re the most talented person in the world, you won’t achieve anything in this sport without putting in the effort.”

That’s when he pointed out that climbing isn’t just about physical strength, but it also requires a lot of analytical, planning, and problem-solving skills.

“When I climb, it’s just me against the problem. I forget about everything else,” Borjaib said. He called it a problem because whether climbing natural boulders and crags or artificial walls, you are essentially trying to find a path to get to the top, to complete the climb. That is, a sequence of operations, and the bouldering routes you take are called problems.

On the field, rather than immediately rushing through a climb, Borjaib takes a moment to strategize, spending around a minute analyzing the problem and crafting a plan in his head. If his initial strategy doesn’t work, he quickly improvises and tries a different approach to see how it performs on the wall.

“You keep falling until you get it,” is his motto in bouldering. Sometimes it would take him a year and a half to work on one specific problem, which is when it becomes a project. For others, it can even take up to 10 years to finish their own. As he puts it, “You have to keep at it, trust the process, trust yourself, and stay patient.”

With speed climbing it’s different - it’s a standardized problem everywhere, where competitors race against each other and the climber who hits the buzzer first wins. Being his current favorite discipline, Borjaib refers to it as “the forever project that you must perfect”.

He played a pivotal role in establishing both bouldering and lead climbing disciplines in Kuwait, and now he aims to lead the way in speed climbing as well. After setting a new Arab record by a significant margin, he is actively working to encourage the Olympic community to build a speed climbing wall in Kuwait and to boost the sport’s recognition. Describing rock climbing as “tough, fun, and insane,” he hopes that the progress he achieves in his own athletic career will be reflected in the sport as a whole.