Climbing is Fun?

Alex Lowe, among other things, is famous for the quote "The best climber in the world is the one having the most fun". But this begs the question, which climber is having the most fun? Let's think about the world of sport climbing.

Remember back in the newbie days, when every route was awesome, good conditions were when it didn't rain, and a great day was one where no bail biners were left. Eating right the night before...Say what? No drinking the night before....huh? Only wimps can't climb a little hungover!

Back in these days:
So what happens? Expectations and goals rear their ugly heads. We care about what we eat, feel guilty about a hamburger, a dessert, a margarita. Our definition of a good day changes. Have a good day climbing? Nah...it was too hot, too humid, too crowded, too buggie. Many times Theresa has asked me 'did you have a good day?' and I've answered with 'it was ok' or 'I guess, it was really hot' or the all-too common 'not really, fell off my project, again'.



But let's think about those days and really take a close look at what took place. We got to spend time in nature....in a beautiful place....getting good exercise....having a fun time hanging out with friends and/or family. How is that not a great day?

So who is having the best time? For me, climbing was more 'fun' back when I was a gumbie and didn't know any better. On the other hand, I get much more out of climbing, the whole experience, now than I ever did before. Do I ever want to go back to the fun, gumbie days? Hell no!

The Heat, The Heat!

Yesterday the family and I went to Fosters for a relaxing day. The goal was to get some exercise for us and the dogs as well as do some last minute training before heading to Spain. I had no climbing agenda, I just wanted to do a decent number of routes with only short or no breaks in between. A secondary training goal was to climb in the heat. I've done almost no hot weather climbing this year and it always takes me a while to get used to hot, muggy conditions. Well, I got everything I wanted in the heat department and much more. Halfway up my first route I was pouring sweat like we were back in Thailand. I had decided to do Street Crime (11d) as my warmup and it worked out poorly...I got to the crux, sweaty and half-blinded by the sun. I grabbed the wrong part of a hold, missed the hold beside it, and found myself hanging at the end of the rope. It's always nice to fall off the warmup! With the tone of the day set and expectations nice and low, I managed to not fall off anything else the rest of the day.

The training regiment of the day looked like this:
Street Crime (11d) fall
Street Crime
Standing Room Only (11a)
Thieves (12a)
The Hoosier (11c) twice
So What (11b) twice
Stun Gun (12a)
The Acquittal (11b)
Satisfaction (12a)
Wristlest (11c)

The conditions of the day had me thinking back to one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes where Elaine thinks she's going to hell.

Elaine: David, I'm going to hell! The worst place in the world! With devils and those caves and the ragged clothing! And the heat! My god, the heat! I mean, what do you think about all that?

Puddy: Gonna be rough.

Check it out here, about 3:40 in.

Vezi mai multe video Haioase

Getting Ready

Our big annual vacation looms large on the horizon and I'm getting psyched! The itinerary goes something like this: I'm headed to Europe for 6 weeks starting at the end of May. The plan is to climb around Rodellar (a few hours north of Barcelona) for a few weeks, then meet Theresa in Paris. We'll do the tourist thing in Paris for a few days, seeing the sights and eating and drinking the best (that we can afford!) that Paris has to offer. After we've spent all of our money on French food, we're headed to Mallorca for a week of hanging on the beach with a little climbing thrown in for good measure. After that, Theresa is headed home and I'll return to northern Spain to climb for 2 more weeks.


For me, going on longish trips is always bittersweet. I say longish because it's all a matter of perspective. As Americans, most of us view a 6 week trip as a huge vacation. I've been asked more than once, "why do you want to go for so long?". On the flip side, 6 weeks to Europeans is not such a big deal as they often go for much longer. Several years ago I met a Japanese couple climbing in Mexico. I asked how long there were traveling and their answer was "not too long, only 2 years"! So like a lot of life, it's all a question of scale and perspective.

Anyway, on to the bittersweet part. I love to travel and climb at new places and my job often affords me the luxury to do so for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, Theresa has a normal "real" job which prevents her from taking large chunks of time off. We've dealt with this several times by scheduling her trips in the middle of mine. That way we're only apart for 2 weeks or so at any given time. While this isn't ideal, it makes it bearable, plus we're able to keep in touch via email. This year we're going to try Skype which I just installed on our computers to stay in touch via free VOIP phone conversations. Hopefully it will be a successful experiment.

But wait, my babies can't talk over the phone! For those who don't know, my babies are the two big labs in the picture above, Bourbon and Ripley. The time away from them is tough and sometimes I succomb to temptation and pet other dogs (but don't tell them that). One of the highlights of coming home from long trips is opening the door and getting to see them run across the room at me. I look forward to it already.