The Journey is the Destination

Here we are again, the end of another year. A time of relaxing with friends and family, a time of thankfulness and gratitude, for all we experienced over the previous twelve months. Many fond memories, shared with special people, in the most incredible places in the world. The life of a rock climber is a truly amazing gift.

From blogs to forums, folks are reminiscing about what they accomplished this year, and many would say that climbing in general is experiencing a large leap forward in what can be considered the “norm.” Personally, I’ve rededicated myself to mental training, and as I try to walk the path of the Warrior’s Way, the end result becomes less important, the journey and the process everything. As such, I offer up some of my favorite memories and lessons from this past year:

Crack climbing in Indian Creek is a life long pursuit, as technique can always be improved. This year I had personal breakthroughs on both wide hands, and ringlocks. Both have opened up exciting new doors of possibility that I’m excited to step through.

I came to understand that on hard redpoints, you have to love the process or the process can consume you with anxiety and doubt. I want to relish each moment and movement, not be worrying about screwing up and not getting the “send.”

After a hiatus from bolting routes, coming back to realize I love the creation of new climbs. The rediscovery started with a tribute to our pup  who died unexpectedly in the spring. I also added some really fun routes to a new sport crag near Moab that is sure to become popular once it’s unveiled to the public.

After dabbling in training last winter, I fully saw the benefits upon our first trip to the Creek where we both crushed former projects. I have no desire to train year round, but when you can’t climb after work during the week, you might as well be getting stronger through a systematic approach to training. (More on this to come in a future post.)

Sharing almost every climbing day with my beautiful, motivated and incredibly talented wife. Love you babe!

Continuing to train technique, and break down mental barriers. You think a move requires more strength, until you discover a subtle hip shift that allows all the pieces to fall into place. We often want the easy way out, but perseverance often teaches us to look for the subtle things that make all the difference.

We spent more time than ever at Rifle this year, and it really felt like the home crag. It’s kind of like walking into the bar on Cheers, where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. People talk about the “vibe” in the canyon, but these days it’s just a bunch of good, motivated folks, giving it their all. It doesn’t matter how hard you climb, people just want you to give it your best!

Climbing in costumes on Halloween in Indian Creek will always be a fun way to spend the day. Especially when bananas, clowns and lime green body suits are involved.

I love exploration, which is part of what draws me to developing routes. As such, going to new areas is always exciting, and this year we got to check out Paradise Forks, Castle Rocks, the Theater, Green Acres at the Black Cliffs and the Abraxas wall.

Using injury as inspiration to come back better and stronger. After sending two projects back to back on consecutive days, seeing  the fitness start to click, I tweaked two fingers. I was feeling tired, and should have let go, but tried to muscle my way through a section that required technique, and my fingers paid the price. Instead of allowing self pity to take hold, I immediately analyzed how to deal with that kind of scenario in the future, and set an intention to train hard this winter, to come back stronger next year.

I look to 2012 with much hope and excitement. As I move forward, I want to trust in the process, and take each moment with eyes open to all the possibilities they hold.

And a huge thanks to all of you, who continue to visit the site, leave feedback, participate in contests, and generally make all this possible. Without the fans, we’ve got nothing. So thanks again, and don’t forget to get some free stickers if you haven’t already!