From Mountain Athlete

Really nice piece up on the front page of Mountain Athlete that reflects on much more than climbing or training.

A while back I drove home from a climbing day with Coach, Rob Shaul, who challenged me to answer what specifically, transfers from my climbing into my life. It was a good question and I was quick to answer ‘many things’. I hesitated and maybe it felt too close to the bone to share just then.

Fell back on some good answers, the ones I usually get away with regarding climbing: self knowledge, discipline, pushing preconceived limits…he wasn’t really having it.

Rob countered that it’s a "sense of peace" then. You find peace in the effort, which he says he gets as well from lifting and working hard in the gym.

Fair enough. I let the darkness of the drive home take it from there without anymore comment but lots more thought.

I have found that training at Mountain Athlete and climbing are both arenas to find improvement and growth, and have much more in common than not. Or at least here is some common ground familiar to me:

-There are no short-cuts, just log your time and let the results follow. In reference to climbing, we call it ‘putting your time in’-and only half jokingly: “paying the man” which stood for some ubiquitous entity that were supplicating with our efforts until we would emerge strong and skilled. (After all these years, I’m still paying him, but now I call him Coach.)

-Try as hard and smart as you can. AND it’s always inspiring and easier to dig deeper when you are beside someone else fighting for it too…even if you are scaled with different weights or climbing diverse grades. Energy is contagious; comradeship is balm.

-Some days feel harder than others. Tell yourself the bad days pave the way for the good days, whether it’s true or not. Excuses are plentiful, giving up is easier but it gets you no farther down the road--for sure.

-It never matters what you did well. If you’re really trying, you’re likely about to be confronted by something you’ll suck at—embrace it, since that’s where you’ll grow.

-Your mind will tell you it can’t--long before your body will give you that answer.

It’s a good question that Rob posed and it deserves a bit more. Maybe some underbelly…I’m ready to pony up now. Here’s what transfers to my life from climbing:

-Tuning into my fears long enough to find the relevant information they might offer. Using that to inform my decisions, while surrendering neither my attitude nor my abilities to their volume & intensity.

-Willingness to try hard things…that the pieces might fall into place and I may find a way through difficulties if I keep breathing, stay positive, search for solutions…and don’t let go.

-Making a plan and remaining flexible help almost any situation. Leave the ground ready to execute the plan, and be willing to adapt with better information along the way.

-That being a solid partner is hard. No one seems to have it wired all the time. If you put yourself in the other person’s shoes when they are on lead and you have the belay, it goes a long way. And it’s fair to expect the same in your turn.

-That the effort to get there, all the work and preparation to get it done, is actually the best part. The feeling of accomplishing the ascent, good as it feels, never lasts as long as you think it will. The enduring gifts come from the journey, the lessons and the memories you bank along the way.

-And finally, climbing has illuminated that the human lifespan is appallingly short. Good friendships and partnerships are precious.

This has two important correlaries:

-It is more satisfying to have told someone how you felt about him or her when you could look them in the eye and see the sudden smile come across their face rather than wishing for it when they gone.

-Might as well just get after it. We’re younger than we’re gonna be.

So yes, it’s just peace after all.

- Mattie Sheafor-Hong