The climber’s WAY OF LIVING

With the coming of autumn, except the cold nights, the yellow leaves and the smell of walnuts, there is also the time for “hard” projects. Еvery climber associates them with difficult movements, a lot of rope hanging, pain in all muscles, scrubbing the skin of the fingers to blood, a lot of anger… And all this is not always rewarded with the successful climbing of the dream project. And even in the cases when the route is already sent, you immediately begin with a new one, which is not easier at all. The joy of success is evanescent, compared to the evenings when you lie in your sleeping bag and remind yourself of every movement, every hold, every breath. Еach morning when you wake up and realize you’ve dreamed your project again, you’re happier and more excited to climb to death on the rocks. Actually during this process you are much happier than when you did the project. And… right now… you need a new one!

“The mystique of rock climbing is climbing; you get to the top of a rock glad it’s over but really wish it would go on forever. The justification of climbing is climbing, like the justification of poetry is writing; you don’t conquer anything except things in yourself…. There is no possible reason for climbing except the climbing itself; it is a self-communication.” —Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi⠀