I Love Climbing, But It’s Kind of a Pain in the Ass

I’ve been having this conversation a lot recently, how climbing is so amazing, but at the same time how much it sucks because to do it well, you have to put so much into it. I was recently explaining to some new comers that you have to climb three to four days per week to stay strong and make gains. They were quick to pick up on the fact that that doesn’t leave time for much else, like family, friends, or life in general really.

So that’s what I’ve been wondering about, is climbing an activity that requires you to make sacrifices in order to perform at your best? I can go six months without skiing, but after I get my fitness back in a couple weeks I’ll be right where I was the year before. Not so with climbing. Take six months off and you’ll spend months getting it back. Unless you are one of those naturally gifted/genetic freaks. You can stop reading right now and go back to whatever sick proj you’re working on. But for the rest of us, climbing usually means sacrifices. Or it means you live life, and maybe don’t climb as hard as you wish you could.

Just today I was talking to a friend and we were both lamenting how life had been so busy recently we each hadn’t been out much in the last two weeks.  He was saying he has decided that maybe you can’t really become a strong climber if you lead a normal life, with family obligations, friends etc. I agreed that it’s hard to be consistent sometimes, with things like weddings, family get-togethers and the like. But at the same time, I just love climbing, so while it’s fun to push my personal best, I mostly want simply to be on the rocks, regardless of what level I’m climbing at.

So what do you think? Can you climb consistently without being super self absorbed? Or does leaving time for other things mean you won’t be redpointing a harder route this year? Or can you have both? And does it even matter?