Sport Climbing? It Ain’t No Thang.

That? Is a bald faced lie. In fact it really consists of one of my biggest athletic weaknesses. Endurance. And so I typically avoid long and grueling routes simply because I know it’s not my favorite way of playing. But it is challenging and so the allure is there… somewhere. Underneath a weakening fear of heights and growing passion for any and all things vertical, I find myself wanting to get use out of this sick harness I own.

Today, at the Source Climbing Center… (You know, the one I work at) I was asked to shoot some stuff to post on the website (and write my bio… crap! Forgot to do that. HaHa… kind of.) and one of the angles Michael (one of the owners) proposed was from behind one of the walls. No big deal… Oh wait, that means I climb up there? Fu…n times.

So as were climbing up this semi-sketchy rung ladder steadily fastened between steel frames and welding, Michael turns to me and says “three points of contact. How’re you doing?” “no worries.” I felt fine. It was dark and I can’t see real well so I was going mostly by feel. This was good because it kept me from thinking about the 35 foot fall I’d take if I slipped. I also missed thinking about the bouncing on said steel, that would be the only thing slowing my descent.

I didn’t think about it until we climbed to the top where the ladder stops and I have to hoist myself up to the edge and peek over the peak (see what I did there?). I’m hanging on to the finals bits of metal and even as I write this I feel my palms getting sweaty. It was also at this point I looked all the way down and felt pangs on panic creep in.

But I didn’t lose it. I was fine. In control. The fear was there, but it didn’t cripple me. If anything it helped me to keep focus on my balance and everything my body told me to make sure I stayed right where I was. And eventually as I climbed back down (feeling quite a gnarly pump as I overgripped the rungs) I thought “how could would it be to GoPro this?” I didn’t go back up. But next time…

Ok, so now my shift is over and Michael says the crew is invited back to climb after hours. I was in serious need of a nap after the hell that was last week and this holiday weekend. So a short nap and I’m recharged and ready to go. The goal was just to get on the ropes and see what I do. Michael had other plans.

First thing he says, is of course, “hey” and then it’s followed by “Know how to lead climb? Wanna learn?”

One of my goals is to climb 5.12 Lead. Setting a date to accomplish this goal by is difficult knowing very little about this style of climbing and how my body will react. So I’m holding off on that.

We went through clipping and I went up some 5.9’s trying to remember not to back clip, to breath, to keep form and focus on my technique as my mind fell to fatigue. I know I’m fine on harder routes when top roping… but that stupid clipping tripped me up haha. It took me a second route to get it, before I felt comfortable and wanted to go faster.

The final test of the night was Michael and Matt (fellow coworker) we’re going to project a 5.12. I think to myself, “Awesome, I can get some kind of clue as to how difficult this goal might be to achieve.” But it was then made apparent that I was going to attempt the route and unclip on the way up to the top. I had no expectation as to what I might do personally… but I was game. What’s the worst that could happen?

I hop on and the holds were nice. The moves were solid and flowing. This actually felt better than the 5.9’s that I had been doing. At no point did I get cocky though. Nor did I feel like it was out of my range. I made it quite a ways with a rest but suddenly I realized I was blown out. My tank was empty and I was toast. My forearms were pumped.

“Breath James!” “I’m Trying!” Too late. Well passed the anaerobic threshold, I went after this like it was a boulder route. I still had at LEAST 15’ to go. And that’s probably conservative. I rested, shook it out. Heard some laughs and very awesome cheers to push me further. I made a few more moves but my muscles were now in the moments that precede muscle failure. I tried to rest and get back on but I knew what I had done and the deficit I’d created. This is what training would stave off. Like Butt lock in the 400m dash, I was toast. The only difference is you can waddle across the finish line with butt lock. You can’t shimmy up a wall when your arms are that far gone.

Oh well. It was a good taste of things to come. I’m excited. The fears there, but it’s making me smarter, not hesitant. And that’s part of why I started climbing in the first place… isn’t it?

Goodnight :)

James