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One of the interesting things about relatively solo arts--writing, rock-climbing, knitting--as opposed to the ones that are almost by necessity a group effort--trumpet-playing, soccer, roleplaying games--is that it's pretty darn easy to find oneself reinventing the wheel. Which is not nearly as cool as Building A Better Mousetrap, though it can feel an awful lot like it at the time. There's plenty of advice out there, of course, but there's something about solo arts that requires a certain amount of fumbling through it on your own. I can read about plot arcs and seed stitch until my eyes bleed, but it takes practice to make them work right.
All of which is just to say that today I figured out a few obvious, boring things about climbing, which were very exciting to me because they finally moved from vague theoretical information into actual known facts. (Maybe this is what the verb "to grok" is for.) Namely:
1) The chalk? Is necessary. Oh god is it necessary. I kept not bothering to bring my chalk bag, because it's messy and gets all over everything else and is one more thing to carry and accidentally leave at the gym, and, heck, it's not like I couldn't climb without it.
But three climbing sessions--great, bad, great--have proven to me that, much as other people might be able to take it or leave it, I need that chalk. Because if a route is easy, sure, I can run up and down it without, and then wipe my hands on my shorts and move on. But if a route is challenging enough that I'm nervous, or sticking to one place for a while, or making perilous grabs... My palms sweat like crazy, and without chalk, I will slip off that hold. Or not quite anchor my hand on it. Or get frozen in terror halfway up because I can tell my grip's not secure enough to make it further.
Chalk: necessary.
2) Almost as necessary: contact lenses. Again, probably a YMMV situation, but when there's nobody there climbing with me who'll tell me where to look for a foot or hand? By god, I need that peripheral vision. On a gym wall, I can't just fumble around and work with wherever my foot or hand agrees to stick. I need to identify the actual holds, and when I'm clinging to the wall, that means I need a way to actually see things out of the corner of my eye, and identify 'em.
In related news, today I sent a route that I'd never been able to climb before. It took five attempts, and I think I could've done it in three with a friend there to point out holds; I kept having to drop off, stare at the wall again, and figure out where the hell my foot was supposed to go next. But... I sent it, dammit. And got further than usual on a particularly challenging route. And did not even manage to properly start one that's all 'sit on the floor and then flail at overhang', but still. That means I can do all but two of the V0 routes at the gym. And that is distinct, satisfying progress.
Maybe some day I'll beat a V1!
(I would immediately go apply this lesson about flinging myself at problems until I surpass them to my writing projects, but I do kinda have a deeply important Greek test tomorrow, so. Studying Antiphon instead.)
All of which is just to say that today I figured out a few obvious, boring things about climbing, which were very exciting to me because they finally moved from vague theoretical information into actual known facts. (Maybe this is what the verb "to grok" is for.) Namely:
1) The chalk? Is necessary. Oh god is it necessary. I kept not bothering to bring my chalk bag, because it's messy and gets all over everything else and is one more thing to carry and accidentally leave at the gym, and, heck, it's not like I couldn't climb without it.
But three climbing sessions--great, bad, great--have proven to me that, much as other people might be able to take it or leave it, I need that chalk. Because if a route is easy, sure, I can run up and down it without, and then wipe my hands on my shorts and move on. But if a route is challenging enough that I'm nervous, or sticking to one place for a while, or making perilous grabs... My palms sweat like crazy, and without chalk, I will slip off that hold. Or not quite anchor my hand on it. Or get frozen in terror halfway up because I can tell my grip's not secure enough to make it further.
Chalk: necessary.
2) Almost as necessary: contact lenses. Again, probably a YMMV situation, but when there's nobody there climbing with me who'll tell me where to look for a foot or hand? By god, I need that peripheral vision. On a gym wall, I can't just fumble around and work with wherever my foot or hand agrees to stick. I need to identify the actual holds, and when I'm clinging to the wall, that means I need a way to actually see things out of the corner of my eye, and identify 'em.
In related news, today I sent a route that I'd never been able to climb before. It took five attempts, and I think I could've done it in three with a friend there to point out holds; I kept having to drop off, stare at the wall again, and figure out where the hell my foot was supposed to go next. But... I sent it, dammit. And got further than usual on a particularly challenging route. And did not even manage to properly start one that's all 'sit on the floor and then flail at overhang', but still. That means I can do all but two of the V0 routes at the gym. And that is distinct, satisfying progress.
Maybe some day I'll beat a V1!
(I would immediately go apply this lesson about flinging myself at problems until I surpass them to my writing projects, but I do kinda have a deeply important Greek test tomorrow, so. Studying Antiphon instead.)