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hawkwing_lbFor my own reference, climbing routes at the wall that I can do or am working on
Can do with reasonable certainty:
- yellow 5 on the slab.
- grey 5+ with tiny overhang. Proved that just today.
Should do, in any sane world, if I came at them fresh or lucky or both. Which I never do.
- white 4+ on the not-an-overhang with the freaking crazy final move.
- orange 5 on the slab, where it's match-smear-reach-finish. Yet to get the smear-reach-finish working right.
Working on:
- black 5+ on small overhang. It's only a matter of time.
- red 6a, with that fun freaky couple of moves up over the roof. One-arm pullups a plus.
- white 6a(#2) on small overhang. Only just started seriously thinking about this one.
- white 6a(#1) which ends on an outside corner/overhang that I haven't reached yet. One-arm pullups and ballet-dancer balance a plus.
- black 6b which ends on a not-small overhang. Easy with nice technique until you hit the overhang, and then it's all strength, all the time.
Not really paying attention to:
- blue 5+ on the not-an-overhang/inside corner/outside corner. Should give that another shot in a little while and see what happens.
- red 5+ on the not-an-overhang/inside corner/outside corner. Suspect it might really be a minor (or not-so-minor) 6a.
Since they changed the routes in the gym, my approach has changed. It used to be that I'd go in, do the two or three routes that I understood, and then work on the next.
Lately, not so much. More like, come in, throw yourself against the hardest routes that you conceivably stand a chance of getting halfway finished, and the move you can't stick? You don't get to come down, not until you've tried it at least four times.
With the new routes, getting one move higher than I did the last time is an achievement. So is getting to the same place more cleanly, and then picking a new route and applying what I've learned to getting a third, a half, two-thirds of the way up.
And if I get stuck and frustrated with a route, the solution isn't to cheat, or to keep doing the same route over and over. No. The solution is to go try another route of equal or greater - preferably greater - difficulty. And then come back, after climbing that route to the extent of my ability, and apply what I've learned, or the improvement in terms of strength or balance, to the route that succeeded in frustrating me.
And maybe I don't send too many routes. But maybe I get another move higher, another move closer to success. Maybe I tackle this route at the end of a session, when my arms are trembling-tired, and even if I can't make the move work, maybe I start to understand how I need to move in order to make it work.
And when it starts to come together - when you string three moves, four moves, five together, and it feels smooth, it feels right, your body and brain are oiled machines, powerful machines, working hand in glove -
It's like flying.
And I forget to be afraid. I'm always afraid - nervous, at least - when I climb: worried for my ankles and my elbows and my wrists, nervous, when I start to be eight or so metres up, that the fixed protection preventing me from having a sudden catastrophic Ground Impact Event will choose that moment to fail.
But when my body works, when it gets it, I forget everything but the move in front of me, everything but the puzzle of muscle and grip and gravity. And it feels like flying. A bone-deep feeling of utter rightness. Of security. I'm not really sure there are proper words to describe it.
And I could (I wish I could) do it all day.
Can do with reasonable certainty:
- yellow 5 on the slab.
- grey 5+ with tiny overhang. Proved that just today.
Should do, in any sane world, if I came at them fresh or lucky or both. Which I never do.
- white 4+ on the not-an-overhang with the freaking crazy final move.
- orange 5 on the slab, where it's match-smear-reach-finish. Yet to get the smear-reach-finish working right.
Working on:
- black 5+ on small overhang. It's only a matter of time.
- red 6a, with that fun freaky couple of moves up over the roof. One-arm pullups a plus.
- white 6a(#2) on small overhang. Only just started seriously thinking about this one.
- white 6a(#1) which ends on an outside corner/overhang that I haven't reached yet. One-arm pullups and ballet-dancer balance a plus.
- black 6b which ends on a not-small overhang. Easy with nice technique until you hit the overhang, and then it's all strength, all the time.
Not really paying attention to:
- blue 5+ on the not-an-overhang/inside corner/outside corner. Should give that another shot in a little while and see what happens.
- red 5+ on the not-an-overhang/inside corner/outside corner. Suspect it might really be a minor (or not-so-minor) 6a.
Since they changed the routes in the gym, my approach has changed. It used to be that I'd go in, do the two or three routes that I understood, and then work on the next.
Lately, not so much. More like, come in, throw yourself against the hardest routes that you conceivably stand a chance of getting halfway finished, and the move you can't stick? You don't get to come down, not until you've tried it at least four times.
With the new routes, getting one move higher than I did the last time is an achievement. So is getting to the same place more cleanly, and then picking a new route and applying what I've learned to getting a third, a half, two-thirds of the way up.
And if I get stuck and frustrated with a route, the solution isn't to cheat, or to keep doing the same route over and over. No. The solution is to go try another route of equal or greater - preferably greater - difficulty. And then come back, after climbing that route to the extent of my ability, and apply what I've learned, or the improvement in terms of strength or balance, to the route that succeeded in frustrating me.
And maybe I don't send too many routes. But maybe I get another move higher, another move closer to success. Maybe I tackle this route at the end of a session, when my arms are trembling-tired, and even if I can't make the move work, maybe I start to understand how I need to move in order to make it work.
And when it starts to come together - when you string three moves, four moves, five together, and it feels smooth, it feels right, your body and brain are oiled machines, powerful machines, working hand in glove -
It's like flying.
And I forget to be afraid. I'm always afraid - nervous, at least - when I climb: worried for my ankles and my elbows and my wrists, nervous, when I start to be eight or so metres up, that the fixed protection preventing me from having a sudden catastrophic Ground Impact Event will choose that moment to fail.
But when my body works, when it gets it, I forget everything but the move in front of me, everything but the puzzle of muscle and grip and gravity. And it feels like flying. A bone-deep feeling of utter rightness. Of security. I'm not really sure there are proper words to describe it.
And I could (I wish I could) do it all day.
