Climbing in Europe: an epilogue

We have had many threads in our blog posts throughout our last 2 months traveling around the Med area, seeing friends and family, exploring antiquities, and taking in many, many beautiful places. Probably, the most consistent thread has been rock climbing. Mu very nicely summed up the sport in her previous post, living the korol dream: Climbing: An explanation and recounting of a kind-of bad day, written from the world class climbing crag in Turkey. As we have reached the end of the climbing portion of the trip, at least for the next several months, I thought it was appropriate to write up a post trying to make sense of the overall climbing experience.

Stats

In total, we climbed in 6 countries (Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France and Portugal). I kind of count it as 8 though because we climbed in both mainland France and Italy as well as the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, which are part of those countries, but feel different and distinct upon visiting. In total, I climbed just a bit over 130 routes, almost all of it on amazingly high quality limestone. The settings varied from hot desert valleys, alpine canyons to seaside utopias. Personally, I am very proud to have led all but 4 of the 130 routes. Leading means I was putting up the rope as I climbed, and comes with more risk, and is much more nerve racking. These extra challenges make it more rewarding when you are climbing well, pushing your boundaries and trusting yourself to climb through the crux of each climb.

Building: peak fitness

Performance wise, I am pleased/proud to write that I have never climbed better than at the end of the trip. I have been regularly on-siting, which means climbing, without falling, on a route that you do not know anything about, very hard (for me) routes. On-siting is challenging, because the very essence of it is that you have to discover the uniqueness of the route as you go. Perhaps there is a hidden hold that makes a seemingly impossible section possible, and you have to find it or you get shut down by the route. This uncertainty requires a greater verve and also more strength and stamina to hold on while you discover the particular characteristics of the route.

This trip, I have had a goal of climbing well in the 6c+/7a range in the french climbing scale, in the American scale this is the 11d/12a range, which is in the high end of my climbing range. By the way, climbs go up to 9a in the french scale, so there is certainly a ton of room for growth if I could make that happen physically. I have found that climbing performance can be quite varied and depends on variables such as strength, power, stamina, mental fortitude, positive attitude and joi de vivre. Climbing regularly over a relatively short period is the best way to get better, as with many sports, but you can't climb for 2 weeks straight everyday because it is too hard on your body, especially the connective tissues in your fingers and joints. On the trip, I have felt quite strong, which is a variable that is easier to control, and more importantly very confident. As a result, i have been able to climb dozens of very hard routes. Rather than a single climb, this trip has brought a lot of internal satisfaction about the breadth of the hard climbs that I have led clean (clean means without falling or hanging on the rope, known as "taking").

Climbing as a sport/love

Sometimes when I think deeply about rock climbing as a sport, it can feel a little absurd. What is necessary about moving from the perfectly safe ground up the unknown route, putting yourself at risk for lone goal of making it to the top? Obviously, there is nothing necessary about that model.

For me, climbing combines several special traits that make it so fun. First, it is extremely physical challenging. Second, it requires absolute and total focus to maximize performance, a zen state if you will. Third, it is a passion that I share with my wonderful wife and many friends. Fourth, the dynamic movements that come when done well, in effect are dancing up the rock. Fifth, it is scary, forcing me to get through mental barriers of fear. Sixth, outdoor climbing takes place in amazing natural settings.

The third point above, sharing with family and friends this sport is a big one. Climbing is what kept my wife and I friends in the midst of figuring out things early on. I think of it as our glue for that initial period. More broadly, it has been so cool to see many loved ones try the sport out and get excited about it. The most recent example is my sister, who got on ropes for canyoneering during a family trip to Zion last year to celebrate my mom's 65th birthday and has really taken to the sport. She now spends many a weekend day climbing near her home in Madison, has taken numerous trips around the country to climb in Vegas and West Virginia, has all the gear and is excited about the sport. Seeing her, and many others, make that evolution in a pastime we love is refreshing and imbues this particular sport with extra emotional meaning.

Gallery

Geyikbayiri, Turkey

Kalymnos, Greece

Arco, Italy

Gala Gagone, Sardinia

Deuxieme Ecole, Corsica



La Turbie, France



In sum, rock climbing on the limestone of Europe is by far my favorite type of climbing. The rock quality is amazing, the settings are often those of my idyllic Euro dreams and the quality of life around the climbing nearly always stellar. I am sad to close this chapter of our trip, of course excited of what is to come, but also treasuring these last 2 months of climbing.

Here is a picture I took right above the last crag we climbed, right on the water a bit east of Lisboa. Sunset on the day and sunset on climbing in Europe, truly one of our most treasured sporting joys. I am already jealous of myself, and we haven't even left the Euro zone.