Spring Break Intro

Over two weeks ago I enjoyed my final Spring Break as an undergraduate at ACU. It was filled with everything I could ever ask for: many adventures and great company. Now when I say “filled,” I mean packed like herrings in a kipper snack can. Starting off I traveled with my buddy Eric down to Lake Brownwood for a day of climbing with Ben, Mary, Jarrod, and John. It was an absolutely perfect day (I wrote about it earlier…) especially since it was the first strong day of climbing for me since I succumbed to mono. The next day I spent some time with my friend Brad, also a native Montanan, out on the single track mountain bike trails north of campus. Monday was a rest day, to catch up on things around the house and look at my textbooks, before heading off of an amazing journey with my housemate Nathan on Tuesday.

Plans for our trip had begun a very early in the semester and actually much before that if you count the initial whispering of thoughts that eventually led to full blown scheming. However, if our plans were analogous to a Constitution then they received many Amendments over the course of the week. Thankfully we were only a crew of two, making it far easier to reach a unanimous vote and in a much faster time than the US legislature deciding the future of health care.

Hopefully I’ve been able to pique your curiosity. Expect more posts and updates concerning the adventure in the near future.

Projects and Progress

Why rock climbing is so much fun Number 2,562: Projects. Projects in the climbing world happen when you attempt to climb a route at the limit of your ability and don't finish on the first try. It might take someone the rest of the day or the next month or even next year to climb the line from top to bottom. It's common enough that it has even become a verb.

When we were on Spring Break I had the opportunity to watch the climbing video "Progression" and feel that the title sums up what climbing is all about. The sport progresses as it becomes more accessible or more popular as well as when the limits of what we thought were possible are exceeded. In the beginning of climbing route ratings, the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) was scaled so that 5.10 were the hardest routes that would ever be climbed. These days the grades have surpassed that 5.10 limit and are pushing into the 5.14 and even 5.15 range. On the video mentioned earlier, professional climber Chris Sharma finishes a project that took him years to climb calling it Jumbo Love. It has a proposed rating of 5.15a making it the hardest in the world (of course in the spirit of progression, Sharma has now climbed a 5.15b).

Climbing buddy Matt on my former project, Burlfest, with Eric spotting, Fall 2008.

I will most likely never climb a 5.15, or even a 5.13 for that matter, but I don’t think that’s the point of climbing. My progress needs to be measured in pushing my limits: the difficulty of routes that I am able to climb and the skills needed to scale more and more technical routes. My friends and I have our own personal projects: routes that are at the limits of our ability level, but for whatever reason seem to call to us. The past couple of times traveling to Brownwood have been really special. I’ve been able to see Ben, Mary, Laura, and Eric all climb lines that we have desired to scale for a long time. In particular, I finally got to the top of a climb called Burlfest that I have been attempting since I was a Freshman at ACU. It was such a cool feeling of accomplishment and relief, and I loved being able to share it with my companions. Eric also sent a route that he has wanted to climb since he first began climbing at the lake. You can see how pumped he was at the top of Jack in the Box in the video at Abilene Climbers.

It’s a very powerful thing to be able to set a goal and see it through all the frustration, difficulty, and disappointment until you reach success. When you have to work for something it has more meaning. And when you look back on where you started and realize where you are now, your confidence soars. Like an avalanche you are then able to surmount bigger obstacles, gain more confidence, etc. Makes you want to go and do great things doesn’t it?

Paul(s), Barnabus(es), and Timothy(s)

When I play sports, it’s inevitable that I classify those playing with me into three categories based on their ability levels. The first group includes the players that are better than me, whether through technique, strength, or experience. The second includes people with less skill, although depending on the sport there may be fewer in this group than any other. And then there are those that are equal to me in skill. It is the most fun playing with this group since we can often push each other to our best performances.

Rock climbing is an activity in particular that exemplifies this categorization because of its inherent nature to be a partner oriented activity. There are plenty of examples of famous climbers, such as John Gill, John Bachar, and Dean Potter, who have avoided climbing with others both as a way to push themselves and in a search for spiritual enlightenment. However, for those of us who don’t push the limits of what is safe and sane in the climbing world (I mean who wouldn’t want to use a rope to protect you while you’re 100 ft above the ground?) a partnership with at least one other climber to share belaying duty is a necessity. So I find myself climbing with the same types of friends that I do any activity with: those who are better than me, those whom I can outperform, and those who have similar abilities.

These categories of friendship and partnership carry over to all aspects of our lives, not just in sports and recreation. Making a Biblical parallel, these different groups of people remind me a lot of the relationships between Paul, Barnabus, and Timothy. Paul was a great leader of the early church, making grand journeys across the known world at that time, converting many, establishing churches, and writing many letters of encouragement. He was an excellent mentor, especially to the young man named Timothy, and passed on his wisdom and knowledge of the grace of God. From the other point of view, I believe that Timothy became an amazing church leader mainly because of the instruction and guidance that he received from Paul. Barnabus, worked with Paul in several missionary journeys and seemed to have a special knack for encouraging people, as his nickname the “Son of Encouragement” suggests. Paul most likely owes much of his success preaching the word of God to the relationship that he had with Barnabus. Having a contemporary doing the same thing beside you and encouraging you to give your all is a powerful thing. It is from these men of God that I label the three categories of people that I have mentioned several times earlier.

Mentorship is very important, as is having friends that walk beside us encouraging us all along the way. I am extremely thankful for the “Paul(s)” and “Barnabus(es)” that have been a part of my life over the years and I hope that I am able to adequately give back to the “Timothy(s)” that I get to spend time with. Take this time to identify in your mind the people that have been mentors and positive friends in your life and then think about people you could be mentoring, passing on the blessings that you have received from others.