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
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!
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