Greenbackyard

The Passionate Rock Climber

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I had recently discovered a brand new, all encompassing passion: rock climbing.

Before I go into this again though, it’s also important to notice that I am going through a very intense period in my life at the moment, a massive roller coaster, with very large swings of ups and downs and mixing “dreamy/fantasy” in what would otherwise seem like a normal existence, it seems to defy magic realism. Or maybe this is also again, part of my imagination of it being a bit too far fetched and trying to find meaning in everything. Why is this important? Because through crisis is that I also reflect very seriously about what I am doing with my life and reconsider the choices I have made in the past.

So trying to gently get back into the subject of rock climbing, how often is it that you find your Element (as described in Ken Robinson’s book) or at least one part of it? I guess that occasionally you stumble upon them and sometimes you engineer them. I’ve just read a post by John Nunemaker titled “I have no talent” in which he states that most of his best work is due to his perseverance and hard work and, of course, his passion for his craft, software development. This made me think: “Is talent something that really matters to me? Do I have any talent(s)?” and before I pursue this line even further, let me clearly say that I agree with John: only hard work gives results, I think it’s really the only way. I think the same applies to passions, like rock climbing. I do have a certain affinity (physically) towards that sport, I am not sure if I’d call that talent but it’s definitely a _connection_ however without all the hard work I would not be getting any better and my frustrations would just keep on growing. I have worked pretty hard to keep this passion of climbing alive, of course when you love something and you enjoy it, working for it doesn’t seem like such an effort. my training routine has got me a few “you are crazy” comments (and trust me it’s not all that intense) It requires persistence and a lot of sheer determination to get through it. Some days it can get hard (hangovers for example, are my worst enemies ).

Working towards ones goals and passions takes many forms. For me it’s been focusing on a routine that pushes me a bit further every time. and that I can do without machines or without having to rely on specialized help. and of course that I can do on my own so that I have to rely solely on my own motivation and not on somebody else to drag me out for a climb. If I get to share those moments with others that’s awesome however since I always struggled to get my own routines underway I needed to rely on my own energy. And it’s also about reading a lot about climbing and about conditioning for climbers, mostly because I am not a trainer and I have a vague idea of where my weaknesses are in terms of strength and flexibility however I needed some advice that would guide me towards the most effective training routines. BTW the most influential book for me so far has been The Rock Warrior’s Way by Arno Ilgner.

The journey has begun.

Adventures into a brave new world

It has been way too long since I last posted here. I think I’ve been using Twitter too much as it feels so easy to just put my stream of consciousness out there without having to fear the empty blank “textarea” (or what writers experience with the blank page, however in our digital times this has long been replaced by a blank word document).

Anyway, as with the vast majority of the western world, I have decided that as part of my “new year’s resolutions” I wanted to tweet less and blog more. Why? Mostly because when I write a post here, I actually spend a vast amount of time thinking about it, preparing for it and, most of the time, it reflects my state of mind more accurately and not just a spontaneous outburst like what can happen through my tweets. And the last few months have been quite intense in my life and I need an outlet to express myself. It’s a way to communicate more detailed ideas, experiences, emotions. All bundled in these words, on these pages.

So, what’s this brave new world I am talking about? Climbing, as in rock climbing! Yes, I know … I am not 18 anymore and why taking on such a strenuous sport at this stage of my life? I owe it to Harry who took me to a climbing wall near Zürich once back in August or September, I can’t remember the exact day. I remember trying to climb the first walls and feeling transported into a state of deep focus and concentration without requiring much preparation and a great sense of camaraderie (well, the person belaying you has your life, literally, in their hands). I remember coming back to my apartment and staying awake until 4AM, unable to sleep, remembering all the moments and also “high” from the adrenaline (I also suffer -or suffered, not sure yet- from vertigo). A few days later, I started to realise how profound this experienced had been and how much it had affected me. And when I say “affected”, I really mean it, a deep transformation. Not just physical (which there was and I will cover that in future posts) but mostly mental.

Mental transformation due to the ability to get in that deep focus almost instantly and repeatedly. Like when I was developing software 24×7 and every now and then I would get into “the zone” and would code for, say, 4 or 5h non-stop and would not have any idea of how much time had passed, how I got to the results I did however those were the best classes, methods, designs and overall architectures. However these moments were seldom the norm. I couldn’t get in “the zone” on demand and I wasn’t able to create the conditions for it artificially. Coming out of “the zone” was also great because I wouldn’t feel stressed, actually all the stress would have evaporated.

As I write this I am thinking over and over again what is that fascinates me so much about climbing. I figured that stress relief is an important factor however that’s not the only one, there are more. The physical challenge is definitely up there, for a computer nerd like myself who has lived a mostly sedentary life, suddenly being able to climb and pull his own weight without the aid of machines or weird contraptions (bouldering) is a major accomplishment. And finally, something that I am very keen on learning about is climbing outdoors. Yes, I have to admit I’ve only been doing indoor climbing so far (give me a break, I’ve only been doing this since September last year) !!! There are so many climbing spots around the world, beautiful, photogenic and wild places that are just waiting to be climbed! So much more interesting than the climbing walls at the gym. Of course, don’t take me wrong, I love to train in a climbing wall, the safety and comfort of just a short stroll to it, any day of the week is unbeatable however “the real thing” is impossible to match (at least it’s still a fantasy for me).

I want to share my experiences of going through yet another life transformation, partly because I think it’s now part of who I am and also because there isn’t that much of it out there about climbing nerds and I thought that it could be interesting to document this journey to keep me motivated and focused and, hopefully, to motivate others. Stay tuned.