Climbing… rock climbing to be specific, has a uniqueness to its vast reaches of participants. Like many activities, climbing offers several different spectrums of desire. Cracks and slabs, alpine and crags, big walls and boulders, granite and sandstone… and let us not forget those freaks who like off-width.
By contributor Matt Bowen.
Climbing… rock climbing to be specific, has a uniqueness to its vast reaches of participants. Like many activities, climbing offers several different spectrums of desire. Cracks and slabs, alpine and crags, big walls and boulders, granite and sandstone… and let us not forget those freaks who like off-width.
Regardless of variety, we all have our own little desires of where we would like our climbing to be and typically focus on partners with those same desires. What we don’t realize is that by doing this, we limit our ability to see the larger picture. We climb in the dark confines of our own goal-oriented psyche.
A wise man once explained to me the hierarchy of climbing in regards to what you must do (or more importantly NOT DO) to reach your climbing goals. It goes like this: If you want to climb 5.8 you can participate in up to 5 other activities (at a semi-committed level)… this would include Skiing, Biking, Kayaking, Fishing, Flying; to name a few. If you would like to consistently climb 5.9, you are probably limited to 4 activities. At 5.10 you’re limiting yourself to 3 activates. 5.11 = 2 activities and 5.12… maybe 1. But by then you’re pretty much invested in being a “Climber”, which typically takes year round effort, choosing desert towers over NW powder.
You get the point though, the more committed you are to an activity, the more you must sacrifice others. My goal this summer was to balance riding my bike and climbing, with the hopes of gaining the strength and comfort to climb 5.11. Then, out of left field (excuse my use of a perfect transition) I got heavily into LSG or Leavenworth Softball Group, and the binge that followed limited my goal grade to 5.10. Awe well. So, why all this talk of grades? Well that’s what you’re supposed to do right? That’s how you define yourself as a climber! Geez, if you didn’t know that, go join a climbing gym. Actually, I’m being a generalist and know that’s not the case with many climbers. I have merely been using this as a build-up to my actually story involving my own personal outlook on climbing.
When I think about climbing and more specifically what & where I want to climb, I normally look for climbs at the upper end of my ability in places I’ve never been. Especially in the alpine where, if I’m going to walk all that way, it should be somewhere I’ve never been and climb something I’ve never climbed.
So why go back to a climb that I’ve done before? Nothing seems to have changed. I’m sure it looks the same as last time… Here I am limiting myself, not merely in my thoughts of what fun climbing can be, but in convincing myself of uncertain truths. As if for some reason if I climb something easy, something I’ve done before, my ability will dwindle. My vision has become blurred with the thoughts that if I am not climbing something hard, something new, I will fall victim to stagnation. The darkness of brash decisions have clouded my ability to see beauty in the variety a simple partner can make.
Case and point… The Beckey Route on Liberty Bell in Washington’s North Cascades. It was the first multi-pitch rock climb I had ever done and since then have climbed it once with good friend and aforementioned “wise man” Reese Bradburn. That brought my total up to 2 times which normally would remove this classic from my list of climbs to do again until I realized that my girlfriend of 2 years, Chelsey Diamond, had never been climbing in that area. Teaming up with Aaron Scott and his girlfriend Austyn Heinlein, we tackled the Bell with tenacious leisure in our Carhartt shorts and cotton t-shirts (as was brought to our attention by a Canadian with a strange New York accent).
To cover my bases as far as trip report type status; the climbing was awesome, we were able to walk all the way up the gully snow free, and the threatening clouds only dropped bits of rain, clearing up nicely for a warm summit. We ended up stashing our gear at the split to South Early Winter Spire, which we climbed (Southwest Rib) the next day.
The most notable bit of information was that the bugs were only found at the parking lot and I actually got a ticket for not paying to park.*Dear Officer A349481: The check is in the mail. 
In conclusion, more like my excuse for rambling on about all this non-sense just to tell you we did a couple’s climb of the Beckey Route. Well, it’s because it opened my eyes to the climber I have been and the climber I want to be, which in turn gave me a reason to write all this down.
Goals and grades aside, the most fun you can have climbing (and this can be said about many activities) is centered on who you climb with.
What’s special about climbing is the trust and confidence you must have for the person on the other end of the rope. By changing that person, you inherently change the climb and that variety alone should be enough to keep you going back for some of the great classics you have long since written off. So next time you have a weekend set aside to climb something on your bucket list, call up an old or new friend and have a wander up the Beckey Route.
We’re not sure exactly what Matt Bowen does, but when he’s not working at Icicle Brewing Company, he can be found surrounded by friends and on his way to his next skiing, biking, climbing or ____________ adventure.
