The Wild Life
hi steph,how are u? i hope everything is going great for u <<<< this e-mail might b completely different from the ones that you recieve usually.
I’m no a climber at all, i have done it a few times in the fake walls lol… and today i find my self writting a research paper about rock climbig… i’ve been looking for information about how is the life style that u guys have in your daily bases
Sebastian and Steph – First, I am a non-climber. Second, the climbing subculture is interesting…it seems very bonding…but, full of hard-knocks…harsh and a better place for the thick-skinned. Third, and my point…a more dark and bright focus within climbing is a probe of the mindset to free-solo. Can you explain and convey to my understanding what one who free-solos should feel…explain the path? A simple answer would be there ought to be some kind of a opiate or white-icy heat from endorphines that draw a few to free-solo? And if you felt the same from a plunge into an icy glacial lake…would that count? What is the common denominator, if any, behind (Steph, et al) those folks?
What part is the role of slaying the personal ‘fear’ dragon? The dragon whose musky breath is always smelled when climbing. Free soloist seem to try to label that internal fear…bottle it …and dominate it. But do they? So they finally strip naked and confront face to face that dragon. And can it actually be slain? Or is free-soloing a way to say, “No, I am no one’s slave! Mastered by no one.” For now.
and tomorrow?
Or is it just the top block of the climbing pyramid …a small place that exists only for the elite of the elite. Room for a couple sets of size 8’s. And if you are to maximally declare to your peers and audience…I am here…I belong…I belong….then must you make that last effort.
Finally, what is in the mind? Forget the fear…forget the peers….What is the contribution of finding purity and clarity of consciencious….is it the experience that summarizes it all? Life at new levels of sound, sight and moment by moment focus….which can only be achieved when you punch the free-solo ticket?
Free soloing ranks as one of the most facsinating aspects of humankind. A rational whole person…who sees a narrow path …that no one else takes…and says, “I’ll go there!”