|
REACHING FOR THE SKY |
|
 |
"Climbing." he says, "is a physical challenge. It offers objectives and prizes. Put in effort and you succeed, in an adrenaline-flowing, exciting, thrilling sport. Yet it's a mental sport. It demands decisions and good judgment. And it offers relaxation, too, in beautiful locations tuned into nature. It's a noble sport: fascinating history with its own literature, and adventurous competition with its own friendships." Gaines can look back on the sport when its chief practitioners were seemingly social dropouts and hippie outcasts. |
 |
|
|
Now professional climbers look no different from professional tennis players. As in surfing, its proponents have become, for want of a better word, respectable. Is this good for the sport? One who thinks so is one of Gaines' accomplished students,
Ken Perry, rappelling down a rope now at Joshua Tree. A recreational
climber for more than twelve years, he finds it has become a way
of |
|
 |
"We can learn from the climbing experience," he says. "First, we shouldn't be all that concerned about getting to the top. We should be more interested in what happens in between. It's like life: |
| Haven't we all know school kids who
have started as freshmen and ended up as seniors yet nothing has happened
in between? Second, we can learn from the fear, a good part of climbing.
There are always situations, as in life, where we're scared to commit
ourselves. In climbing we separate our emotions from our rational
thoughts. We push through the fear. We handle it. This carries forward
into other walks of life to give us a way of survival." |
|
 |
For Perry who teaches Bible studies in his spare time, climbing is the greatest of diversions. It's a healthy vigorous way of spending a day and gives its enthusiasts a real appreciation of the outdoors.
|
| PAGE 1 2 3 | MORE >> |
