From the boulders left laying at the bottom of Stanage Edge
to the unclimbed routes in outer Patagonia, to be able to distinguish fear from
irrational thought is a skill learned only from that moment that pure
desperation runs cold through your veins. Irrational thought when climbing is
of course part and parcel of each and every bold climb we do. Questions are
asked but are only replied by the next move we make. I suppose when I top out
on a climb and everything fell into place, all questions answered without a
shake of a leg or wrong move made, my thought process is one of elation and
happiness, this I would believe to be true with anybody else. But its these
flawless climbs that create the fear that we gain on the climbs that don’t
quite go according to plan. I know that I overestimate myself at times and say
to people that doing a certain climb would be ‘easy’ or ‘something I would do
to warm up’ but in my heart of hearts I know that it could really push my
limits. Fear is derived from elation, elation is derived from accomplishment.
Every time we accomplish something big in our climbing careers our estimation
of ourselves can start to become a blurry line. Without knowing it we can start
on something that will get our hearts pumping, our muscles tensing and our head
reeling. But that, is the art of climbing. Knowing where you sit, that’s
thought. Not knowing what’s next, that’s fear.
And we love it.
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