2019 Themes: Risk Management, The End of Crush, Sugar Kills, and Free Climbing

One of the easiest ways to review a calendar year is to reflect on themes and trends. Since the year we’re in (currently in the MDT time zone) is hours from its conclusion, now is as good as time as any. Here are some of the themes that came up continually during our 2019 programming.

For a visual look of 2019 — my favorite images from our trips & camps — click on this link.

RISK MANAGEMENT - Managing risk isn’t really about being safe. Being safe is something different, it’s actually attempting to eliminate risk. In climbing, we attempt to be safe and manage risks for different reasons and outcomes. As athletes, we manage risk in order to achieve goals and develop to our potential over a long term. In climbing, we manage risk because we cannot avoid it. So as performance driven climbers, we manage risk to prevent the potential injuries and catastrophes that keep us from achieving. In playing the long game as a climber, this provides the opportunity needed to master the craft. It helps us find enjoyment. It builds our relationships with our partners and allows us to support their interests. Learning to manage risk comes with experience, but in the formative stages of development, it’s best if it comes from mentorship. Putting trust in your mentors is difficult. We don’t know if they have our best interests in mind, or if it’s just their ego talking. If a mentor leads by example, that’s probably good reason to trust them.

THE END OF “CRUSH” - or, reconsidering power in climbing. I stopped saying “crush” in reference to climbing performance this year. It’s inadequate, and it’s also potentially harmful. We don’t crush the rock. We don’t destroy it. We shouldn’t be trying. It’s time to come up with some more appropriate verbs and adjectives for how we perform, and more importantly, how we grow. I want my athletes to move with grace. I want them to exist with less. I want them to leave it the way they found it, or better. Crush refers to the power we exhibit as athletes, and power is a very limited resource. There is such thing as “too much power.” Furthermore, power is the strength of privilege. We cannot power our way through life. As loss becomes more, we endure. Isn’t it better to endure with grace and dignity? I’d rather dance through life than try to crush it. It’s more sustainable, and it’s more human.

SUGAR KILLS - From my perspective of 20 years of coaching, the single easiest way to improve health, for most of us, is to eliminate added sugar in our diets. There is no hesitation in this statement. Time and time again, those who I coach who consume less sugar and are aware of their sugar consumption, have more energy, are more adaptable, are more resilient with struggle, deal with stress easier, and have a greater perspective/outlook on life. It’s a little bit hyperbolic to say that “sugar kills,” since I’m not a doctor or scientist and don’t have data for this. I do however, see how it kills potential. Being an athlete is just as much your lifestyle as it is your performance. Start reading labels if you don’t already. Do the math. It’s simple. And if you want to play the long game — the one that allows for you to be active late into your life — make these habits happen now.

FREE CLIMBING* - Learning to climb free (meaning: to climb without aid, like taking, hanging, etc.) is skill development. The more your work at it, the closer you get to mastery. And the closer you get to to mastering this skill (which is movement based), the closer you will get to realizing your potential. Free climbing also includes a need to control emotions, viewing failure as part of the process, and the continued introduction of variety. I see the emphasis in making the majority of the work we do as athletes hard: power, hard bouldering, “sending,” etc. The low hanging fruit, for almost all of the athletes I’ve worked with, is to keep coming back to the “easy” stuff. Keep doing it to ensure that it stays easy, then make the not-quite-as-easy stuff easier with repetition, consistency, and attention to craft. Free climbing isn’t about the hardest move you can do, it’s about staying on the rock in movement, as a dance of sorts. Please refer to the previously mentioned comment on power. It is limited. Find grace and effortlessness in making the so-called easy stuff second nature and you will become a better free climber. *The term “free climbing” must not be confused with “free soloing.” Free climbing is still protectable with equipment, in the case of a fall, whereas free soloing is not. While bouldering and deep water soloing are forms of free soloing, both are relatively safe compared to the high risk consequences of free soloing.

The rock has a lot to teach us. Traveling and meeting people t4aches us even more. I can’t wait to see what 2020 brings! Thanks for a great year. -Aaron