Why Toproping is Good For You

Toproping, among certain climbers, has gained a nasty stigma. To tell a fellow climber you plan on toproping at the gym today is akin to telling the cool kids you're about to ride your bike home from school with the training wheels on and a Hello Kitty basket strapped to the handlebars. They just can't believe you wouldn't want to be lead climbing all the time. 

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: Toproping is good for you; Toproping can help you become a better climber. I will say, without shame, I love toproping!! 

The reason I like toproping so much is because I believe it is a great training tool. It allows me to separate the mental and physical aspects of climbing and to focus on each one with greater focus. On toprope, I can climb a route that is much more challenging (for example, a route where I may surely blow the first clip on lead). Toproping such a route can still allow me to build the physical strength, as well as broaden my move schema, without worrying abut breaking my ankles. When climbing outdoors that strength and confidence in my movement will translate to real rock, regardless of how much leading I've done in the gym, and I'm all the better for it.

I'm not saying lead climbing in the gym doesn't have it's place. It allows me to practice pacing for clipping, getting into good clipping stances, as well as working on good clipping technique. It also allows me to climb fun overhanging features in the gym, that I wouldn't be able to navigate on toprope. Plus, it's a good way to practice rope management for both belayer and climber. But it doesn't need to be my only source of training!  

But let's be honest, gym leading is not really the best representation or preparation for leading outdoors. How many times do you get a lead route outdoors where the draws are 4 feet apart? Indoors you almost never get to mentally prepare to be runout. This is something that I learned, and got used to dealing with mentally outdoors, no thanks to gym leading. Gym leading doesn't allow me to practice hanging draws, or clean anchors, nor does it teach me how to properly rappel. Leading in the gym is to leading outdoors what riding a bike with training wheels is to riding one without.

So next time someone scoffs at your intention to do a little toproping, don't be upset. Just remind yourself they are missing out on a valuable training technique. And remember, refusing to toprope (or wear a shirt) will not make you a better climber. 

Big Crimpin'

Oh, strenuous sloper; bane of my existence!

When I first started gym climbing, knowing nothing of the world of real rock, I wondered frustratingly why someone would design a piece of plastic akin to a bowling ball to hang on to. They were awful! They'd pump me out before I could even say "take!". 

Oh, crappy crimper; how I loathed you for so long!

Possibly the lesser of two evils in terms of ability to utilize, but possibly the most evil in their ability to injure. When I first came across these in my early gym days, I was stunned that a setter would expect me to hold onto a shitty foot chip to move myself up the wall. Gah!! 

I can't say exactly when, but at some point these things began to change. While I still despise some slopers, and some crimps are just ri-god-damn-diculous, I have come to appreciate both of these holds and their dynamic relationship with each other. More often than not, now a days, I prefer a crimp over a sloper. In fact, many crimps that used to be seemingly impossible are now almost jug-like. What really blew my mind after some light informational reading, and testing of my own, is that slopers actually make you better at crimping! WTF?!

This realization has caused me to embrace the sloper. They may not not feel good at the time but they will pay off later when you find yourself actually RESTING on that once godawful crimp!

Disclaimer: Crimps will actually not make you better at slopers! So, keep a steady stream of slopers in your climbing repertoire, and you'll be sending like a crimpanzee!! 

Why I Climb

Climbing is center-stage in my life right now, and has been for some time. I'd like to take a few minutes to reflect on some of the reasons why.

I climb for clarity. No matter how hectic things are in my life, climbing allows me to see things more clearly. Climbing condenses the fog of life into crystal clear droplets on a cool glass surface, allowing me to view each drop with an new-found sense of awareness. I have not found anything before or since that does this for me as well as climbing. It may be that spending so much time focusing on precise hand-foot placement, and split-second risk assessment has rewired my brain in a way that makes me better at assessing challenges in my day-to-day life. It's easy to think of climbing solely within the context of itself, but I feel the greatest impact climbing for me has been on my life outside of climbing.

I climb for nature. I remember the first time I set foot in The Red River Gorge. It was life-changing in more ways than one. First of all, whether you climb or not, it's a hell of a beautiful place to behold. It's a vertical playground situated in a what is essentially a jungle. Over the past four years is has come to feel like a second home to me. With each climbing destination I visit, no matter how much climbing I do there, I leave feeling deeply refreshed simply by spending some quality time with good old Mother Nature.

I climb for my friends. On the surface climbing can seem like a very self-oriented activity; my goals, my hardest grade, my sore fingers. But for me climbing has always been centered around spending quality time with friends. I am forever grateful to the friends who introduced me to it and were patient while I flailed on their warm-ups, and I am grateful for all of my current climbing partners who never fail to encourage and inspire my climbing. I enjoy belaying and watching you all climb almost as much as I like climbing myself. You have taught me a lot; thank you.

I climb for fitness. Since I started climbing I continue to become a fitter, healthier person. I was a runner in high school, and I ran simply for running's sake. I still enjoy running, but now it has become something I use to make myself a better climber. When I work out at home, the sole motivator for me is that it will make me a better climber. The best thing is, climbing is so much fun, I don't even think of it as working out. And as it turns out, all of these other forms of exercise I participate in feel more fun because the end goal of all of them is to make me better at climbing (aka - having fun).

I climb for a challenge. As a climber, I can always be pushing myself. The goal is ever-evolving. To me this is one of the best things about climbing. It is a constant challenge that will rise up to meet you at every turn. The tricky crux move that will throw you off the wall a ten times in a row, is the same move that will guide you through on the eleventh try, and send you out the other end as a better climber and a better person.

I climb for trust. There is something powerful about being a hundred feet up, attached to another human by a 10mm strand of fabric. The trust I put in my belayer, as well as the trust I am responsible for fostering as a belayer, are central to my climbing experience. I know that while I'm ten feet above my last draw, scrambling to get the next clip, I have a friend who is completely focused on keeping me alive.  

Above all else I climb for fun. Climbing is this wonderful never-ending mind and body puzzle that has a lifetime of lessons and experiences wrapped up into one simple activity. The beauty of climbing for me is in the simplification of complexity; the organization of chaos; the fun! 

That Snooze-Button Feeling

As my alarm clock is going off, urging me to get up and start my day, I reach over and tap the snooze button. I have bought myself 8 more minutes of sweet, sweet sleep. What is it about hitting the snooze button that is so rewarding? 

You might be asking what this has to do with climbing. Well, the other day I noticed a very similar phenomenon happening with my evening trip to the climbing gym. I had planned on getting to the gym at 7pm. As I was making my dinner and throwing in a load of laundry, I realized I was quickly running out of time. I sent a text to my friend seeing if they would mind meeting up at 7:15 instead. No problem. Gaining this extra 15 minutes felt to me like hitting the snooze button in the middle of my day. In other words it felt great. 

That is not to say I dread going to the climbing gym. Nor do I dread waking up to start my day. Quite the contrary. That magical snooze-button feeling is evident of something else altogether; the notion that even though the march of time is unchangeable, we can temporarily create the illusion that it is not. 

When I got to the gym that evening, my partner and I roped up and I started leading a route to warm up. I tried to focus on my breathing and footwork. I moved past the third draw and felt the slight anxiety of a small run-out. I reached down, pulled up the rope and clipped the fourth draw. Right then a familiar feeling washed over me; that snooze-button feeling that I could rest easy for a couple more moves.