Earlier today
I received an email from Ivan's Dad, Gabriel, that I really wanted to
share with the rest of you. Not only is it very entertaining, but I think we
could all learn a little something from Ivan. The following is the contents of
the email:
Ivan lost his first
tooth today (Saturday) in an epic fashion. He was leading a climb in Maple
Canyon. His feet were well above the 3rd bolt. He went to clip the 4th bolt and
he put the rope in his mouth to use his free hand to pull some extra slack. The
weight of the rope pulled his tooth out, he managed to keep one hand on the
rock, drop the rope, put his tooth in his back pocket, pull the rope back up
and clip the draw with out falling, hanging or freaking out. He went on to flash
and red-point the climb! He wants to make a good-luck climbing necklace
with the tooth now!
I was so impressed
with how levelheaded Ivan was, even when something very unexpected happened. My
equilibrium has been thrown while climbing and I am afraid to say that I did
not respond well. Many times I give up or get frustrated and loose focus. What
is it that allowed Ivan to remain so calm? I am not positive, but I have a
theory based on observations of other great climbers.
In the book, Maximum
Climbing by Eric Horst he states that the factor that sets the elite climbers
apart from the average is their ability to not get caught up in the numbers
game. Many of us set out to climb the hardest grade possible, while this is a
worthy goal it may not aid us in reaching our full potential as climbers.
Climbers like Lynn Hill and Chris Sharma have been heard saying that climbing
is a journey; an opportunity to truly connect with your surrounding, for them
it is not just about the hard send or avoiding the scary fall. They do not
define the entire climb based on one factor they enjoy it as whole. Loosing my
tooth on a route would throw me for sure and I might loose the entire experience
to it, but Ivan showed me that a loosing your tooth is simply part of the
entire experience. Thank you for sharing Ivan and Gabriel.
This story made me
think of another great climber Wolfgan Gullich who said, "A man doesn't go
to drink coffee after climbing, coffee is an integral part of the
climbing." Everything, can be part of the process.
Climb On,
Kyli
No comments:
Post a Comment