Why do we like to climb hard?

I just started reading this AWESOME book by Mike and Mark Anderson, called the Rock Climber's Training Manual. It starts with a wonderful chapter on mental game, what training is, how it works, all that good stuff. Mike and Mark got my attention with one topic in particular- climbing hard versus climbing recreationally (spelling is hard).

Now, those two things are not mutually exclusive. It's something that I've put some thought into, and having them phrase it for me so elegantly was wonderful.

So,

Question 1- What is an athlete?

First off, for context, I do consider myself an athlete. Climbing is one of those insanely weird activities where, even athletes such as myself, sometimes admit to seeing our favorite activity as something other than a sport. Is it a hobby? Is it a past-time? Is it a social gathering of like minded individuals participating in a niche endeavor? Well. Yes. It's all those things.

My personal definition of a sport is as follows. I'm not Websters. This is an opinion and it doesn't matter, but it is MY view. For a sport to be defined as such, it needs these qualifiers-

• There must be scored competitions
• There must be capacity for injury
• There must be a need for physicality

Cheer-leading is therefore a sport. Bowling, sure, and probably surfing, which I know nothing about. Does climbing fit those qualifiers?

Hell yes.

So why is it not a sport?

Well, it doesn't HAVE to fit. There's a big difference between a competition climber, and a top-rope enthusiast kicking it with their buddies at their favorite local crag. Neither one is doing it right or wrong, but they are definitely participating in two different activities. The rec climber- I'll just call them "recs" for short- do not see climbing the way "sport" climbers do. One isn't necessarily stronger or weaker, or more or less psyched. They simply have very different viewpoints.

So that's a sport. What's an athlete?

Well, consistent improvement, or a need for it at least, is big. Notice how I said need. The plateau is something that may not traumatize recs, but for a sport climber, it will absolutely ruin them. They (we) boil most of their climbing experience down to how strong they feel, and whether they are improving.  Who's doing it "right?" Neither and both. It varies heavily person to person. But, moving on.

Question 2- What is the joy in climbing hard?

The way the Andersons put it is beautiful. Realistically, the most amazing climbs will very often be high on the difficulty spectrum. I don't want to climb 5.13b so I can log it on my 8a.nu card, I want to climb that thing because it's just so damn pretty. Whether it's the movement, the feature, the aesthetics of the line or what have you, there's so much to love. Sure, I've been on amazing 5.10a classics, and other moderates, but they may be few and far between. Not only that, they may be- let's say- vanilla. Sometimes I just want that chocolate swirl.

There's also that feeling of the redpoint. Oh, the redpoint. I remember coming very close on my first indoor 12c the day it was set, by my good friend Peter (awesome setter, shoutout to Shmalz). I got all the moves really quickly, but that last clip sequence was just SO hard pumped. It took weeks of climbing that route, over and over again, until I could do it. I felt perfect on every move. I had the most efficient sequence, stances, rests, even my breathing was perfect. That perfection made the send feel amazing. It wasn't the grade, it was the journey to reach it.

So, what about new climbers? Are they recs? Maybe, but probably not. It's too soon to know. Just because they aren't flashing the hardest climbs they can find, does not mean they don't have an interest in trying hard and improving. In fact, I would say most new climbers fall closer on the spectrum to sport climbers, because of their inevitable rapid improvement.

And that's another thing- it's a spectrum.

Finally,
A Disclaimer-

Grades are dumb. If you don't like the way you're climbing because you don't agree with the grades, or you JUST want that hard V8 send to brag about, that's not sport climbing. That's just ego chasing. If you want that hard V8 send for yourself and your friends, and you're psyched and training and ready, good for you.

Anyway, that's all for today. Again, I'm a very new blogger and this is very much an experiment, so I apologize if my writing isn't up to snuff. Hopefully it'll improve.

Climb on my friends!

 

An Introduction

First things first- I'm a new blogger. (DUH). I don't really read blogs... and I used to write a lot, in school, but I fell out of that as a teenager. So, the obvious question is, why in the hell am I starting a blog?

I guess I like to talk? I have all these ideas floating around, and I rarely get to share them, and I'd really like to!

I really hope this blog becomes a super interactive thing. I want to hear from readers (hopefully, not READER). Whether I know you personally and we climb together all the time, or you stumbled upon my blog in whatever way this beautiful interwebz allows, I want to hear from all of you! Thoughts, opinions, how your day was, your favorite place to get a reuben, that CRAZY DOPE FOUR STAR CLASSIC you got to send- I want to hear all about it!

And with that, a brief intro of me.

My name is Avi. At the time of writing this first post (it's June of 2015) I am 23 years old. My parents are both immigrants from the Soviet Union- they came here in 1991, just before having me. And yes, I do speak Russian :).

 I started climbing in Summer of 2010, just after graduating high-school, and I'm going to be very, very clear about one thing; I was never an athlete. I was overweight, lazy, awkward and nerdy in all the ways. Around 16 or 17 I started to discover some level of fitness, and did just enough to keep myself sane and happy, but I was never an athlete. And I certainly wasn't when I started climbing.

My first day climbing was at Sportrock, in Sterling, VA. I. Was. Awful. No technique, no focus, no physicality. I was super psyched to send V0 (Which, by the way, is always an amazing thing and don't let others tell you otherwise). A year later, I had made my way up. I think I was working soft V5. I discovered I loved crimps and powerful shoulder movement, which led to my first shoulder injury in 2011. When I came back from that about six months later, I started developing technique, and I also began climbing on ropes. I was sport-climbing soon after that.

Fast forward to now. I work at Earth Treks, one of the biggest climbing gyms in the country. I'm aspiring to route-set there one day (I am the chief-setter at a very small gym as of now). I climb indoors, I climb outdoors. I do ropes, I CERTAINLY do boulders. I train, and hang out with climbers, and talk about nothing but climbing, and blah blah blah I'm in the life. Hard.

I will go ahead and close my very rambly first blog post, and hope that I learn to clean this thing up soon. If you got this far, thank you SO much for reading, and I hope to climb with you soon!

Climb on my friends!