Cow’s Life - Thinking Outside Of The Barn

On the way back from my Aspen hiking trip (check out the photos here), I stopped by Glenwood Springs to climb with mountaincurmudgeon(alias used), a darn good climber and a darn good blog commenter on heavywinter. After a couple of warm up routes, he put me on a 5.10a route, which is about a level higher than anything I have climbed. I figured the worst case scenario is falling a few inches from a top rope. So what the hell… let’s give it a shot!

Ok, not only I fell, I fell about 10+ times within the first 6 feet, and probably another 15 times afterwards. The foot holds were so small that I could barely stand on anything. And the hand holds were always in some weird positions. I kept on trying and kept falling. I probably cursed at my not-so-good rock shoes a few times and thought about quitting a dozen times throughout the entire route. My strength started to disappear and my confidence started to vanish. Mountaincurmudgeon didn’t give up on me though. Belaying under the scorching hot sun, he kept yelling, “You can do it!”

I tried to tell my legs, arms and mostly, my brain, “Com’on, let’s just go a few inches higher, shall we?” Under the command of my brain, my body slowly paced through the route. I finally touched the anchors on the top after who knows how long. I wondered if mountaincurmudgeon had turned into a grilledcurmudgeon after holding my rope for this long…

Mountaincurmudgeon said something that got me thinking, “90% of the game is 50% mental.” (It may not be his exact words, but close enough) I guess the real criminal of our quitting acts is our mind, yeah? I could tell mountaincurmudgeon to lower me after falling a few times. Then my feet would never touch that cliff. We all hit road blocks and obstacles here and there. Quitting usually is the easy way out, but that probably doesn’t get us anywhere. So the next time if things get touch around ya, give yourself another shot and try it a few more times. I learned from rock climbing that it is quite amazing what we can accomplish with a few more tries.

Falling is OK. But don’t assume you can’t get up, yeah?

I met a climber last Tuesday. After seeing him flying through a real tricky 5.10 route, I pretty much assumed he is one of those pro climbers who have been up on the wall for a while. ‘So, how long have you been climbing?” I was expecting to hear something like a year or two. “Since this March. “ He replied. Whoa! Another naturally talented monkey!

March is the month I started climbing seriously. As I recall, I have to spend a lot of time in a grade before I can advance to another. I was only able to climb 5.9 routes about a few weeks ago after many weeks of hard training on the 5.8 routes. But I have met so many people who can jump on the 9 routes without much effort. I start to think that my climbing talent is probably next to nothing.

I believe all of us have nature talents in a few things we do and suck in other areas. Using myself as an example, I suck in everything that requires body balancing. But I am good at eating food without getting fat. Although it bugs me a bit knowing that I am a turtle on the wall, I try to tell myself it is OK to take time. It’s probably going to take me 3 times longer to get to the 11 routes, but eventually I will get there. Maybe I can even climb those “you are out of your f*&^ing mind” routes one day. HA!

Here is the turtle theory - Even the smallest step will get you to the destination. No nature talent? No worries, just keep doing what you are doing. Eventually, the turtle theory will get you there.

For those of you who are not familiar with rock climbing, here is my definition of the difficulty of each grade:

• 5.5 :Anyone who has a little body strength can do it!
• 5.6 - 5.7: Rookie climber
• 5.8: You need to know what you are doing
• 5.9: A damn good climber
• 5.10: You are a Pro!
• 5.11: Welcome to the elite group!
• 5.12: You are out of your F#$#@@& mind!

I have been climbing since Feb, 2005. However, I only started climbing seriously about 2 months ago. Since I can’t do a single pull up or more than 3 push ups, I normally stay away from those over-hanging routes. They just look impossible to me.

Time has come to the point that I have to conquer my fear to get on an over-hanging 5.9 route in order to move on. That route shown on the left is a required step before I can learn any lead climbing (a different kind of climb every serious rock climber has to know). Last Thursday, I put my fear aside and went for it. I fell countless times, hung on the rope like a hopeless little monkey swinging back and forth and couldn’t’ get back on the wall. A few people had to gather the ropes together to get me back on the rock… I got to the top at last only because my team wouldn’t let me down. Oh, boy, what a disaster.

Yesterday, I went for it again with even more fear. I tried to focus entirely on balancing and positioning my body. Surprising, I didn’t have to pull myself up while I was hanging there. I just took time to find the body balance, use fingers to hold on and have my legs to do the rest of the work. It’s amazing how much difference it makes when I twisted my hip a bit here and there. For the very first time, my fingers started to feel the pain instead of my arms. And I went all the way to the top without much of the trouble.

I stayed on the 5.9 routes the entire night and finished every one of them. I finally can announce myself as a 5.9 rock climber! HA!