The Joy of Climbing Well

Technique is not an end in itself. There is, all the same, a great satisfaction in making a gesture or a movement , or in carrying out an exercise, well. Technique is one of the means of communicating with mountains, not with their beauty or their grandeur, but with their raw material - snow, ice or rock - in the way that an artisan communicates with the wood or iron on which he (and/or she) is working.

The climber is face to face with the rock up which he wants to climb. To do this, he must make certain gestures, just as a sculptor must, when working on his block of stone. There is contact between the flesh of the man, controlled by his mind, and matter. That is the important point. Touching fine granite is pleasant and reassuring like touching a piece of fine wood. Perhaps there is even a sensual side to it.

To do anything well is important. Once again, technique is not the object of climbing, but pleasure in technique is an extra satisfaction to be added to all the pleasures our beloved mountains give us. In every domain, work well done is fine work, work done without cheating, in which what is approximately right will not do.

Of course, technique is a poor thing, even a wretched thing, when separated from the heart which has guided it; this is true in rock climbing, or playing a piano, or building a cathedral. But at the bottom of a man's being, there is always a sensitive element which has demanded a fervent and passionate apprenticeship before it becomes efficient and develops into a form of beauty. Among mountaineers, too, there is such a thing as style and it can be said, without overestimating its importance, that the presence of style is a sign of quality. When I was myself learning to climb, I had occasion to watch some of the great guides at work on ice as well as on rock. It was fine to see, and they must have felt, within themselves , a gentle glow of satisfaction, an unexpressed approval as their gestures unfolded and as their movements followed smoothly on. They seemed to flow as spring water flows from a rock, running gently along the hollows and skirting the obstacles, choosing the best course offered by the lay of the land.

Written by Gaston Rebuffat. Starlight and Storm, The Brotherhood of the Rope: Techniques and Tools, The Joy of Climbing Well.

What a beautiful description of his experiences and point of view. Anyone else have examples of beautiful descriptions of personal experiences in the mountains, or climbing period, on anything? Regarding technique, philosophy, certain routes/problems, overall approach to climbing, whatever it may be, I am interested in hearing/reading it. Will you share a paragraph or a chapter with us? Thank you!

I mean, logically it's probably a bunch of bullshit, but the guy's delivery is so bad ass that it becomes pretty inspirational, if I had this guy giving me pep talks at the bottom of each route, I could definitely send a 5.10 someday :-)

empty your miiiinddd...

youtube.com/watch?v=VqHSbMR…

Thanks for sharing dude! I have never seen that and am glad that I have now. I did not know Bruce Lee was aware of that and I am now interested in learning more about him. Thank you Christian!

That was pretty awesome.

Christian,

What do you mean by "logically it is probably a bunch of bullshit"? Are you truely motivated by bullshit? Do you have a concept of what technique without substance feels like?

I consider this idea similar to what is commonly referred to as "cooking with love". Anyone can execute advanced techniques, the difference is people that actually give all their attention to and enjoy the process of cutting each vegetable and watching food cook with all the senses. That's where the love comes from. As opposed to just feeling good about the end product and not savoring the process much.

To me, far from being logically bullshit, this concept is what life is all about. Savoring the process of whatever you are doing and doing it to the best of your abilities.

If thinking of it in terms of logic works for you, by all means go for it. I've definitely had "flow" states many times while surfing, just don't think I can consciously control when they decide to show up (and it might actually be counterproductive to try too hard to do so).

For me, that particular clip was about the presentation and the emotional impact of it, a guy saying the exact same words in a boring monotone would do nothing for me.