Adventures

April 07, 2013

Adventures

35 from ARC'TERYX on Vimeo.

I came across this lovely video through +Arc'teryx and thought it was worth a link. It reminded me of all the adventures I've had, and brought a big smile. Now in my early 30's and working my way towards my mid-30's, it's cool to appreciate all the experiences. I've been lucky - I think it's only dawned on me that I spent as good as 4 years (I'm sheepish to admit I think it was more than that) of my 20's traveling and climbing. ClimbingNarc.com put up a great comment that climbing is like the ultimate gateway drug to traveling and I'd had to agree. I love how many people are in the scenes too - I think I was conscious of that more than whatever routes the guy was on!

For many, climbing is the something fun to do at weekends or on an evening, for some it's about putting up new routes, for others it's the 'coolness' of being part of something (no different to many people surfing, etc). For me it's been an avenue to explore more and more locations across the world (granted I had gained that as a child with lucky experiences of living in Sweden, Israel, etc but climbing gave me a new other reason with an 'activity' to do while traveling/exploring!), meet so many people (opening my eyes to new perspectives, ideas, concepts - acknowledging things will change no matter how you like it - although granted coming from an IT background, I was already psyched for that sort of thing anyway :) and of course, explore my own physical boundaries and learn so many physical and mental benefits along the way (transferrable in skills to work, career, etc - UncleSomebody put up an interesting post on this topic a while ago). I'd like to think I've stayed away from what I see is the pitfalls that seems to catch a lot - ego takes over and it's all about the grade and comparisons to others, or losing motivation and giving excuses for not putting in time/effort. What's your motivation for climbing?

Of course, for now life means I'm a bit more settled in Dublin and happy putting my energies into my current projects. Time is super limited for outdoors though, and while I'm getting back into the groove with some training (more on that in a post soon), I'm missing the freedom of the outdoors. The grim winter hasn't incentivised me for hitting outdoor rock in Ireland in a while so perhaps it's time to enjoy some more running in the hills........ And of course, lovely movies with comments such as the voiceover below (and yes, the irony of posting about this is not lost on me - although in my defence, at least it's not just a mindless 'share' on Facebook - and there's some creative writing going on :) definitely remind you of the fun to be had!

W ill Gadd on Movement from Duct Tape Then Beer on Vimeo.

Back to the top video. Perhaps it's time to put together a goal list for 35 (still a while away so time to make it a mega-challenge). Perhaps 35 8a's in 35 days (taking inspiration from Alex Magos - if I start preparing now, I might have a chance! :)? 35 weekends of climbing in a year (although I've done that before)? Climb a 35-pitch route? 35 new locations (sounds fantastic, but suspect it's not viable!)? 35 beers in one day (although considering I'm not drinking for this year, that could be unlikely)? Bring 35 new people climbing outdoors? Bring 35 new people climbing outdoors to foreign locations (now you're talking!)? Perhaps I'll have to pick one as a trial run for this year :)