Me and climbing

I did my first outdoor lead climbs almost 6 years ago in Nam Pha Pay Ai, Thailand, at the start of my first travels (read Nam Pha Pay Ai). Since then climbing has more or less been my passion. Climbing is an amazing sport, where one has to be strong both physically and mentally. It requires power, balance, coordination, tactics, focus and determination. It is maybe the world's best feeling to climb confidently; staying fully in the moment, executing precise movement and giving your everything to the route. Not only has climbing made me stronger (before I could not do even one single pull-up), but it has taught me how to overcome fear - face it heads on! - and how to embrace the learning process, taking each lesson as it comes (read Climbing: fear of falling) . Through climbing I have learned so much that is also applicable to other areas of life.

Thailand

Thailand

Climbing has not only been my hobby, but also my main lifestyle. I have traveled around the world to explore different climbing areas, and visited places I otherwise would have never discovered (read Home at Green Climbers, Notes about China, Climbing - what a great excuse, Home sweet home in Berdorf, Disaster climbing trip). Through climbing I have gotten to know people living in alternative ways; priorizing freedom and experiences over stability and wealth. I am pretty convinced that without their example I would not have had the courage to pursue a new, more inspiring career. Almost all my closest friends are from climbing, and being located all over, we meet up regularly in climbing destinations to spend quality time together. Then there is the great climbing community, or at least two climbing communities. The first one is traveling climbers, touring around prime areas, to whom you keep bumping into from one year to another. The second one is the local gym crew, that occupies nearby crags at weekends. Both communities have brought me a sense of belonging over the past years.

China

Philippines

It is hard to imagine my life without climbing. It has been my identity for so long. During unemployment I saved money by being a dirtbag climber (read The sparing lifestyle of a traveler). I quit partying (for most of the time) in order to have productive climbing days. I even picked my country of living because there is lots of climbing around. Of course there are also other important and interesting things, but climbing has been the focus of my free time already for years. I have missed cool art exhibitions and street fests because after work I have gone to the gym to hang from the fingerboard. I have not seen much of the impressive mountains and cute villages of my new home country, because at weekends I have visited my project routes (of which I have not sent any) at the crags.

Switzerland

During my last travels I climbed more consistently than ever and enjoyed it a lot. Then came Corona, locking me home for a few months, unable to train climbing. During that time I started to do other things, like yoga, reading and exploring the neighborhood. Although everything was closed down, somehow I found new interests. Or I finally had time to do things that had already earlier interested me. After gyms opened again and people returned to crags, I kept finding excuses to not to get back into climbing shape just yet. I went outdoor climbing once in a while but climbed badly; I was scared of falling and did not want to do strenuous moves anyways.

Spain

This past weekend I was climbing at my favorite crag with lots of pockets on slightly overhang endurance climbs. I ended up projecting my last year's warm-up. The grade I climb has stopped mattering to me already a long time ago (as I have no talent to be a good climber), but I enjoy the personal progress and accessing new cool routes as I keep improving. However, what hit me the most, was the realization that I had not really had fun climbing since my travels. I had just climbed because I had to. I spent the night on my own at a campsite and thought a lot about climbing; what it means to me right now and what I want to do with it in the near future.

Switzerland

Greece

A part of me totally resisted the idea of admitting that I am not motivated to climb anymore. I pictured myself unfit and fat (not a joke!) and got scared of loosing my friendships. Quitting climbing would definitely distance me from some people, but probably in the end it would be an interesting experiment to find out who I am truly friends with. At the same time another part of me was overly excited about having time for other interests. Already for months I had looked at friends' mountaineering photos and envied them for accessing such stunning, scary and unique places. I also want to explore the mountains; by hiking, learning to ski and taking some easy alpine courses. I thought about attending yoga retreats, studying German grammar (yes, very exciting), going on bike rides, learning photography, dating guys from Tinder, doing voluntary work, visiting museums, attending interesting lectures and what not... Surely just by quitting climbing, whilst working 100% (I am gonna get my 80% contract, but that is another topic), I would not miraculously gain time for all of that. But surely I would have time to pursue at least a few new interesting things.

Greece

In the end I concluded that I need not be over dramatic. I am not going to sell all my gear and announce that I am no climber anymore. Since I have my climbing gym membership I will keep training indoors, as it is an efficient workout and the home gym is dear to me. However, for the time being I will not climb outdoors. I will engage in activities and learn skills that I am more curious about. I feel that climbing has taught me a lot over the years, but from now on additional learning would be marginal. I have more learning potential through other things. And above all, what I do during my free time should be fun at the moment. That being said, no one knows about the future. Maybe already this winter I will be super motivated again and crush some rad climbs. But until then, I am looking forward to something different...

(Oh man, so many climbing photos of me. I feel totally self-centered posting all of them. But in the end, the topic of this post is me and climbing.)