Life Lessons from the School of Climbing
I hurt, my everything hurts. The fingers that are not bloody or healing are smooth to touch, their prints worn away from rough repeated exfoliation. The bright yellow lifeline i'm knotting to my harness is stiff to tie, hardened from the cocktail of chalk and blood at the extents. I'm thirsty, starved muscles drive the churning hunger in my belly. My muscles ache, my bones ache, My skin aches, my tendons ache, my joints ache. The biggest ache comes from my jaw: Its never smiled so hard or so long before.Its been two weeks Robyn and I have been suffering self imposed exile in the lap of the gods, Olympos. Whilst the mountain that gave it its namesake may be far away in Greece, this little hippie haven in southern Turkey may be as close as to exists to nirvana on earth, particularly if you climb.
Twice a day we've climbed, for 13 days straight and there must be something wrong with you if that doesn't change you. This is what i have learnt from using just my body and the earth to compete with gravity.
You progress slowly, but you do progress
All that pain is worth it, that pain is the instantaneous act of growth. The sore muscles strengthen. The broken skin returns tougher. The tendons sore will stretch. the total lack of fingerprints could lead to a career of high profile diamond theft.
Strength is good, Flexibility is better
It seems that there is a big difference in climbers when they first try. The big boys turn up with egos to match the arms beneath their tight sleeves, and are soon deflated when the girls dance right on past them, using superior balance, flexibility and leg drive. Strength is incredibly important, particularly on overhangs (as seen with Rixxy above!), but big muscles weigh a lot. Muscles trained in a gym are only strong over a limited range. Flexibility gives you options and an opportunity to use those muscles in a better way. Hand strength is something else altogether, more is always better - now where can i get some?
The little things your grandpa did are important
Knives, ropes and knots: pretty nerdy stuff. At least its what i thought until i got into this game and realised how often my life was saved, preserved or improved by one or a combination of the above. Learn to tie a bow tie whilst you're at it
Quality is worth it
The gear we hang from is clearly important. It gets worked pretty hard and is still expected to save our lives and look after us, so we shoud look after it. Every part of my gear can suspend a 2.5 ton truck alone, even the little slings and straps and so on. My rope has had me bouncing off it wet in snow at -20 and wet with sweat at +45. Climbing gear is expensive, but it has to be. Its light because we have to drag it up, hung from our waste, and its tough because bolts in the real world are not like in the gym or laboratory. I love my gear and i look after it, because i'm still alive to do just that
The route to Success is Not Comfortable
Climbing shoes suck. They hurt more than they smell, and there is nothing on earth with a funkier rot than climbing shoes. The smaller they are, the better they work, and man, do they work! from now on, every time i go out i will complement every girl around me on her choice of tiny cutesy girly stilettos and wingman for her, so they pay off!
Dont judge a book by its cover
Turns out thai hippie clothes can be practical! and be thankful your belay is wearing a floppy sunhat and gardening gloves. If shes happy, you're safe. Maybe now someone can explain to me why climbers wear beanies in summer?
Sticks and stones may break my bones...
High school was a character forming place for most of us. It was at that point we were told that nerds are not cool; I question what that means now. As far as i can tell, a nerd is a person unusually passionate and proud about something in particular, be it warhammer or climbing or paint or anything else. Most climbers are climbing nerds, and hell thats a good thing. I'd like to fill my life with passionate people with a drive for life who can spin a story with that wild addicted look in their eye. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact, in my books that makes you pretty damn cool.
Work with what you have
When it comes to climbing, we all have the tools. We wear it every day. two arms, two legs and a bit between our ears to solve problems. liken it to a novice guitar player saying my hands arent big enough, ...bollocks! You learn, you work around it. Take it from this unusually short rock climber. The upside of this? anyone can do it. In Olympos, Robyn and I had the pleasure of putting many, many people through their first ascents. every one of them was so proud and happy on the way down. i guess its amazing what you can do when you try.
Experience is best shared
Assuming you're not soloing, then you will always have at least one other person to share the experience with. A good belayer doesn't just keep you safe, but helps you, pushes you and laughs at you when you fall
There is no Recipe to Life
Similarly, there is no right way to climb, just keep heading up! i restrain from giving people help unless they ask for it, because climbing is problem solving and everyone will find a slightly different way to solve it.
Keeping a cool head
The biggest lesson i've had this year is in managing stress. In theory if i can climb a wall, i can climb a wall.
A top roped climb is always the least stressful option; it is where a rope passes up from my harness to the top of the climb, around a pulley and down to the belayer. a fall in top roping may have you fall a meter at most. Climbing on a top rope, i take risks, i climb more elegantly, i swing my body off small crimps and take tiny footholds. this is me at my best
The next level is lead climbing. This involves taking the rope up with you and clipping into 'bolts' to reduce the distance you can fall. when you come to a new bolt, you ask the belayer for slack and holding on with one hand, pull the extra rope up and into the bolt clip. At the point just prior to clipping is the chance of greatest fall, where you will fall twice the distance to the next bolt, plus the slack you have just asked for(the addition of this can be many meters). Often when clipping, you're holding hand on the rock is not on a nice car door handle style jug, but a tiny sloper or crimp. Tired and sweaty fingers pulling slowly away can get your heart rate up a bit.
Act cool- you'll get through. This internal monologue is slowly starting to work and with increased confidence, i have found myself sailing through situations that once terrified me.
don't get me wrong, there is still a place for fear!
The joy of going solo
The third category of climbing is called solo. it means going by yourself with no safety gear. Its stupid, daft, showy and serves no purpose. Liken it to skinny dipping. It doesn't make you swim better, but it feels so good!
The value of good information
Buy the book! In Olympos, we had heard of a climb in the next bay around and so planned an adventure. we really got one! The four of us hired a kayak to put the climbing gear into, and headed to the beach with our flip-flops. Turns out we had a 1.5 hour swim followed by a hour hike up broken rock and over exposed cliffs. It was an amazing view and beautiful climb but man did we work for it! Information is power
I will never get tired of magic chalk
ever!
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