Cow’s Life - Thinking Outside Of The Barn

Risk of Dropping Dead
Last week when I was buying snowboard bindings, I met my climbing partner Rick’s friend Rachael. I was surprised that Rick hasn’t turned her into a climber after knowing her for so long since we all know Rick tries to turn everybody into either a climber or a snowboarder. So I asked him later, “Hey, how come you are not turning Rachael into a climber?” Rick said, “Oh, because she won’t climb. Her good friend died when he was climbing Gardens Of Gods.”

You may be surprised that most of the serious outdoor rock climbers don’t think about death that much, myself included. But I can’t deny the fact that the risks are high up there. The scale of the risk increases drastically when we move through the climbing categories( e.g. from top roping to lead, from lead to trad, from single pitch to multi-pitches, from rock to ice, and from outdoor sport routes to alpine climb. ) I have only been climbing for about half a year and I’ve already had some scary moments.

Why Do We Still Climb
I was camping and climbing with a few climbers this weekend near Deckers area. When we were bullshitting by the campfire at night, we started telling each other our worst-outdoor-experience stories. One guy told us that when he and his buddies went for a snow camping trip, they had to wake up every other hour to shuffle the snow outside of the tent for an hour and then woke up another guy to guard the tent from being buried by the snow. “It was miserable.” He said. So I asked, “Why the hell did you do it then?” “To test myself and know myself better.” He in turn asked me, “Why do you climb? You know you can die.”

Why do I climb? Hmm… a good question.

Initially, I climb because of the joy after conquering a route. It’s the greatest feeling of the achievement that motivates me to climb. Now, It’s because of the 4 big letters: RISK. Because of the RISK I take, I am getting so much closer to not only the beautiful Mother Nature that only the climbers can enjoy, but also the ugly and the beautiful sides of my own nature. Because of this closeness to the truth, I have learned so much wisdom about living my life. If you have been following my rock climbing journals, you know that I’ve learned how to conquer the fear, how to be persistent, how to say NO to quitting-acts, how to believe in myself and how to be supportive and patient with others. Such wisdoms I have acquired and applied have been the greatest rewards.

I think the excitement of the RISK and the reward of taking such a RISK has to be the top reason why the extreme sport lovers do what they do.

Where Is The Equation?
So, I know I can die because of the nature risk comes with rock climbing. But this is what I love to do. So where is the equation?

Paul Shultheis once said, “Until you know the worst that could possibly happen and the best that could possibly happen… your equation is incomplete.”

Hmm… Maybe I still choose to believe that as a top roper and a moderate lead climber, the worst that could possibly happen to me are some nasty scratches. However, if I start to raise a family , or moving through the higher climbing categories, I am sure the equation will be rebalanced.

For now, let’s climb on!