Does Hard Climbing Matter?

I picked up an issue of Deadpoint Magazine at the Boise Front over Christmas, and was reading their recap of the year, which talked about how climbing standards yet again went through the roof in 2012. And it made me wonder, does that matter to me, a passionate climber of average skill, to read about numbers and ascents that are so far over my head I can’t even fathom what it’s like to excel at that level?

It may be cliché, but for me, it’s inspiration, pure and simple. To know that there are people out there pushing themselves, and that EVERYONE is raising the bar, is incredibly motivating. It’s not like only the pros are getting better, everyone is! You also don’t have to look far to find that many people are sending their hardest routes as they get older, which makes sense, given that so much of climbing is technique and mental fortitude, which in theory should only improve with age and experience.

I read about someone like Chuck Odette, who did his first 5.12 at 34, and his first 5.14 at 44, and I think, wow, I’ve got a lot to look forward to. As global standards continue to rise, mental barriers are continually broken down, at all levels. How many times have you struggled on a route or boulder problem until one of your friends did it, and then all of a sudden everyone does it? There’s no question there’s an element of getting the right beta, but how much of it is breaking through that mental barrier? Knowing that it’s possible makes it so.

We tend to rise (or fall) to the level of the people we surround ourselves with. I’ll never forget my first trip to Rifle, a wide-eyed twenty-three year old, when I saw people hike 5.13 like it was as casual as walking on a sidewalk. I didn’t know that kind of ability was possible for people who hadn’t given up everything to climb. And a small seed was planted, like hmm, maybe someday I can attain that too.

I’m far from obsessed with climbing news. I spend no time on 8a.nu. But I love knowing that there is some seriously hard climbing going on out there. That people are pushing themselves and their notion of what they are capable of. That barriers are being broken and paradigms shifted.

What about for you? Does hard climbing matter?