erik Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 Pushing youself beyond what you have done before is extremly satisfying- and it can also be quite painful. That's why elite climbers like Jerry Moffatt associate the feelings of pain and suffering, while climbing a route, with intense feelings of personal pleasure. No matter your climbing ability, you probably think you know your limits on the rock intimately. I contend, however, that your true limits far exceed your perception of what they are and that, when your mind says "stop," you actually have a lot left. Many climbers annouce they are going to fall off a route just before they actually do, whereas a climber truly performing at his limit will keep pushing on and on, no matter how ugly or painful it gets, until he is ejected from the route without a moment's notice. Now that's climbing to your limit! Interestingly enough, a climber in this mode will often send the route, having gone beyond previous limitations. The same goes for your workouts and bouldering sessions. Try to gradually stretch the bounds of what you think is possible. However, be sensitive to your body and heed any indications that you might be injuring yourself. When training and climbing, it it always best to err on th side of safety and drop off at the first sign of any strange pangs or pops. If you get injured, your limits will be pushed way back. Rest assured that with experience you will become a pro at making this judgement call, but, when in doubt, proceed with caution. Individual sports like climbing are all about constantly breaking down barriers and pushing limits as you move upward in ability. Decide to resist the urge to quit when things get painful, and fall in love with muscular discomfort- it is one of the truest signs you are really pushing yourself toward a new level of performance. Only then will you discover just how desperate things have to get before you fall off a route, and only then will you begin turning what were once barriers into steping stones. - Eric Horst. Quote
slothrop Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 Nice, Erik. Is that from the "How to Climb 5.12" book or something? If I could only trust my gear enough to climb like that... Quote
Ursa_Eagle Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 I agree totally. The best days of my life have been the ones that I've pushed myself the furthest. I've screamed out in pain many times, yet I'd go back and do it again in a heartbeat. Quote
whirlwind Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 slothrop said: If I could only trust my gear enough to climb like that... vyeah me to, i find myself down climbing back to the last peice when i get skeched or fell like i'm pealing off, which suck cause i know once i downclimb the fing thing that i could have probly made the move!! Quote
E-rock Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 Wirlwind, your gear is SKETCHY, it's a good thing you downclimb Quote
Fejas Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 You know its been a good day when you can't even go at it the next day, because you've ripped nails off, grinded down knuckles, blistered toes, suffered from dehydration, and heat exsaution has rendered you to hump over on yourself in camp wile you bros make fun of you for bein' a pussy.... Quote
skyclimb Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 the real limit is when you look at something and say, i can't do that. Then you say fuck it, i gotta do it, just gotta go for it. The higher the wieght in your mind that you won't make it, but you still do is the threshold for me. With this you get hurt, and get pain, but this is life, and happiness of achievment. I look at scars with pride. Quote
Lambone Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 I like to use chains and whips while climbing...the more pain the better Quote
whirlwind Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 me too its espacaly fun to haul the extra weight Quote
catbirdseat Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 I tried leading a 5.10c at Nevermind Wall. Nevermind that I had only ever even top roped a 5.10b. It was a quixotic quest from the start, but nothing ventured nothing gained. With this thread from The Prophet for motivation I went for it. I found that I actually could make the moves and clipped three of the four bolts, but my arms ran out of gas with my face in front of the fourth bolt. I had a good hold for my left hand but my right was so pumped, I couldn't even squeeze the gate on the draw to get it off my harness. I pitched off with little warning to my belayer. He was hauled two feet in the air, but held my fall. It was the first leader fall he had ever held. Glad he kept his wits about him. Goddam, I'm going back and send that sucker and soon. Quote
whirlwind Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 nice... takeing whipers on bolts is a differnt story though, as long as the bolts look good just go for it . say to ur self" Just clip and go,just clip and go, just clip and go" u'll get it, but definatly make sure ur belayer is ready Quote
sherlock Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 When humping the haulbag up to the base of a wall, my mantra has always been, "I eat this shit up." Attitude and mental approach usually control the outcome of the day. I think that it is true of most things in life. You get out of them what you put into them and most things in life that are REALLY worth having involve pushing beyond normal comfort zones and maybe taking a bit of a risk. Maybe a parallel here between climbing and life. Gotta watch out for getting caught on those big ledges and being unwilling to move on in life too. A buddy down in cali used to call it BLS- Big ledge syndrome. Quote
iain Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 'course if you fight BLS, you might come to rely on another BLS, basic life support Quote
Fejas Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 catbirdseat said: I tried leading a 5.10c at Nevermind Wall. Nevermind that I had only ever even top roped a 5.10b. It was a quixotic quest from the start, but nothing ventured nothing gained. With this thread from The Prophet for motivation I went for it. I found that I actually could make the moves and clipped three of the four bolts, but my arms ran out of gas with my face in front of the fourth bolt. I had a good hold for my left hand but my right was so pumped, I couldn't even squeeze the gate on the draw to get it off my harness. I pitched off with little warning to my belayer. He was hauled two feet in the air, but held my fall. It was the first leader fall he had ever held. Glad he kept his wits about him. Goddam, I'm going back and send that sucker and soon. I like the lead fall... don't get me wrong, I don't like to fall but if I do I would perfer the lead... yourr heart stops and then races to moch 10... you free fall a distance shuving your stomach into your throte... time stops and you ponder every peace of gear wondering if they are going to hold... then you wonder if that bastard of a climbing partner is paying attention instead of gaking at the honey down the way... boom your rope catches and you now are headed for the wall and lightning warp speeds... slam, you have just cracked a few ribs... what a thrill... Quote
minx Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 Fejas said I like the lead fall... don't get me wrong, I don't like to fall but if I do I would perfer the lead... yourr heart stops and then races to moch 10... you free fall a distance shuving your stomach into your throte... time stops and you ponder every peace of gear wondering if they are going to hold... then you wonder if that bastard of a climbing partner is paying attention instead of gaking at the honey down the way... boom your rope catches and you now are headed for the wall and lightning warp speeds... slam, you have just cracked a few ribs... what a thrill... you just described a really bad for me last summer but hey we finished the climb. it's not the pain that's good it's the adrenaline. Quote
iain Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 I hate that feeling when you've taken a bad fall (or any accident) and you're cut-up and bleeding and stuff and your friends rush over to ask if you're okay and you don't know because the adrenaline is still gushing, and you know you are going to be in agony in approx. 2 minutes. Then you start shaking in shock. This happened to me at beacon rock when I was just screwing around bouldering near the SE corner, fell off onto some sloping jagged rocks. Didn't realize I was injured until I looked down at my hand and my thumb had a huge chunk torn off and my palm was lacerated and bleeding intensely. My leg was also pretty bad off. It was only a 4 foot fall. I felt sick to my stomach. Quote
JoshK Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 Has anybody else noticed that you'll somtimes get injuries, not even noticed them, then the pain starts as *soon* as you look at the injury and realize it was there? I cut my arm up on a crampon strapped to my pack last summer and ended up bleeding (unbeknownest to me at this point) for the last 30 minutes of the approac. I didnt' realize this until I saw the wound and at that point noticed the pain. Quote
adventuregal Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 JoshK said: Has anybody else noticed that you'll somtimes get injuries, not even noticed them, then the pain starts as *soon* as you look at the injury and realize it was there? Yup! On a mtn bike ride one time I cut open my lip... Everyone else was freaking out, but I was happy as could be and wanted to ride that section again if it killed me. They made me go to the ER... Got stitched up, etc. No pain. Got in the car afterwards, saw myself in the mirror for the first time... I started crying it was so ugly looking! Hurt like hell all of a sudden!! It was time for some & Quote
dalius Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 Cracked my lower arm, radius and ulna, right in 1/2 in a nasty bike fall. Compound fracture, bones came out and ground into the pavement at all. I had no clue that I broke it though and was ready to get up and back on the bike and ride home. Then I looked at my arm and remember thinking 1) oh fuck, what the hell is that?!?! and 2) holy shit I can't believe I can't feel that! That's when the heavy duty pain set in. Quote
fleblebleb Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 I stepped barefoot on a piece of glass once, maybe 8-10 years old. I remember feeling an itch and grinding my foot on the ground a little bit to scratch it. There was blood fucking everywhere when I finally lifted my foot so I could see what was going on. My little brother was six and fell on his bike, impaled himself just underneath the chin on the front brake on the handlebar. He squealed a little bit and I ran over and when he looked up his entire throat was completely covered with blood. Dad came around and thought we'd been fighting, oops, I'm five years older. Phew, good thing he managed to do that all on his own. He still has a scar, more than an inch long. It's only a couple of inches away from the neck artery. He still had helper wheels on the bike when it happened, was probably riding at 2 mph. Quote
dryad Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 I was hiking one day with the outing club at college and went to jump across this stream, initially lauching myself off a tree root. Next thing I know, I hear a snap and I'm on my ass. I figure the tree root snapped when I stepped on it. No big deal, I think. Then when I try to get back up, it seems that I can't weight my right foot. Gee, wonder why? Then slowly the pain comes on. Turns out it was my ankle that snapped, not the tree root. Ouch! On the bright side, I got carried out of the woods by these 3 really cute guys. Quote
eric8 Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 I bruised/ possibly cracked a rib 3 weeks ago and I'm not sure what I did. I'll I know is one morning my left side hurt like hell and I can feel where one rib is indented a little compared to all the rest. Also sometimes it still hurts to raise my arm above my head. Quote
plexus Posted April 17, 2003 Posted April 17, 2003 Bronco said: I avoid pain. Must be single then Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.