Defining Climbing Success

     This summer I've had the wonderful opportunity to enjoy a "grade school" summer vacation and have spent many of my weekends climbing.  I've also re-read Arno Ilgner's Rock Warrior's Way, which I highly recommend and have mentioned before in this blog.   A large part of that book is centered around the concept of detachment from external qualifications.  In climbing, grading systems, or the grade of particular route / problem, are examples of such qualifications.
     Around the same time I was reading Ilgner's book, I also re-read one of the Horst / Falcon books (either Training for Climbing or How to Climb 5.12, though in truth I don't remember which).  Horst quotes the Dali Lama in one section, paraphrased here, that we should gauge our success based on what we had to give up to get it.  Personally I found both (Horst's and Ilgner's) books to be very useful for different functions and just as obviously written from seemingly contrasting paradigms.  However, these few segments, along with some personal experience(s) prompted me to write this post and offer my $0.02.

Example 1
     In March of this year I climbed my first V3 boulder problem.  Two months later I was struggling on, and bloodied by, the same problem.  I could have inserted one of a number of excuses -- my (literally) blistered fingertips, the humid southeast summer, exhaustion from the last week on the road going crag to crag almost non-stop -- but instead had a rare moment of clarity.  It was a beautiful moment only recognizable after it had passed, a moment of unwavering focused commitment  There was seemingly no conscious thought in my mind, only an awareness of movement and reaction.  There is no failure.  The face is calm.  The mind empty but poised.   I completed the problem during the second outing in spite of the sticky weather and butchered hands.

Example 2
     To add a bit more "meat to the bones" of this post you should read this article about answering the question; "how hard do you try?"  One hot summer day I was climbing with a couple friends, one of whom easily climbs several grades harder than myself.  However, he almost exclusively climbs indoors.  I was delighted to get him out to the crag.  We both set up shop at a V4 that I had been wanting to try.  He eventually completed the problem while I kept getting stuck around half way and ended up calling it quits, though not a "loss" or a "failure."  Why?  Because climbing is not a 0-sum game to me.  Someone doesn't have to loose in order for me to "win."  There are problems out there that are hard for my friend just like there are problems that are hard for me.  The fact that he accomplished something I could not (yet), is merely academic.  I remember still feeling "strong' and "successful" that day as well as humbled, grateful, and fulfilled.  I have a lot of pride in the fact that my success (be that V2 or V10) has been (and will be) paid for in dirt, rain, sweat, and blood.  What are you giving to get what you're getting?  How hard are you trying?

Conclusion
     The above examples and books lead one towards a much more experiential and personal definition of "difficulty" and "success" rather than quantified (although fallibly subjective) established grades.  Personally I've been keeping several spreadsheets for a little over a year now tracking ticklists, monthly averages, and other quantifiable data.  This is not for bragging rights though.  It is for observations, such as this:

• February 2014:  Sport Climbing Average Ascent (indoor and outdoor, all styles) = 5.10b
• June 2014:  Sport Climbing Average Ascent (indoor and outdoor, all styles) = < 5.9+
• April 2014:  Bouldering Average Ascent (indoor and outdoor) = 2.9062
• May 2014:  Bouldering Average Ascent (indoor and outdoor) = 2.4575
• From January through June (2014) I failed to ascend 40.63% of the outdoor routes and problems I attempted.
• That doesn't even include falls on routes / problems that were eventually completed, or ANY indoor climbing.
• However, in 2014 I have also:
• Ticked my first (and several other) V3(s)
• Ticked my first V4
• Ticked a couple 5.11a's (sport)
• On-sighted multiple 5.10b's (sport)

     The point here is that the "score" on paper (be it on a spreadsheet on your computer or in a guidebook) doesn't tell the whole story.  Complimented by my other training logs / journals, it is quite evident to me that I've "given" quite a bit and in order to declare my climbing year thus far a success.  How "hard" did I try?  Well, at least 40% of the time I was stretching my comfort zone and attempting climbs above my known (on paper) limit.

     The point here is not that I'm trying to plead my case as some kind of world-class boulderer via grade accomplishments (see the first paragraph).  Nor am I claiming to have some kind of master / miracle training plan.  I'm trying to conjure an image of responsibility, acceptance, sacrifice, and fulfillment.