I recently participated in my first climbing comp – The Limestoner in Austin, TX. In the past I avoided competing for a fear that it would potentially affect my passion for the sport. I always had this notion that mixing commercial interests (sponsors) and competition (climbing for a reason other than connecting with the environment) would take away from climbing’s purity.
But, I see it as a way to compete with myself. I entered the endurance portion of the competition. This awards the climber who climbs the most routes and at the hardest levels. And, since I had climbed 32 routes for my birthday a month or so earlier, I figured this would be a good opportunity to really push myself and see how far I could go, a notion I doubt any belayer could be as excited about. Luckily, I had a great buddy (Randy, a climber profiled in an earlier blog article) who was willing to help out.
Actually, when it came down to it, the fact that there were other competent climbers in the endurance portion pushed me even harder to keep going and try harder. Maybe I am competitive after all.
Regardless, the comp helped me push myself beyond any point I had experienced in the past and helped fuel my confidence for upcoming challenges.
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