When the Summit is not the Goal
One of the highlights for my 2024 trip to Japan was going up Mt. Fuji. While researching this endeavor, I discovered the different ways of going about this feat. Most people start halfway up the mountain. They start from the Subashiri Station, the fifth station. This trail eventually meets up with the Yoshida trail. The Yoshida Trail has a fifth station of it’s own. This station is only accessible from the start of the Yoshida Trail, 6,000 feet below the Subashiri Station. Naturally I chose to go up Mt. Fuji the harder way.
I learned quickly that I had underestimated the difficulty of going up 12,000 ft and then half way down again in two days. From the beautiful Kitaguchihongufujisengen Shrine my friend and I hiked 7,000 feet in six hours to closest operational station, the fifth station. Stations one through the first, but not operational, of two fifth stations are broken down and therefore only serve as landmarks on the map. The rush was to make it to the station before the kitchen closed for the night. We barely made it.
The trail starts off pleasant with gentle ups and downs through the green trees of the Aokiagahara Forest. Then the trail starts to go up and keep going up. The next time the trial declines is at the top. My cramping legs near the end of the six hours did not help on the steep slopes. A good dinner and sleep did wonders though.
I woke up with my legs feeling strong. We ate breakfast at the outdoor eating area with a beautiful view of the blue mountains in the distance. After the sixth station my friend dropped out, but insisted that I continue. So, I went on my own. Even though my legs felt stronger than the day before, I could tell they were tired and the constant uphill was taking a toll.
What provided relief was the many rock scrambling areas after the seventh station. I put my camera away and used my hands to climb my way up. This helped preserve my leg strength and increase my speed. The alternative is taking a lot of big steps, which looked exhausting to me. Some of the rock scrambles are slabby. My comfort of small footholds helped me to grab the available chain or rope and lunge forward to advance upwards. I do not know if I could have made it to the top without the sections that I could climb.
When I reached about 10,000 feet, my climbing speed slowed down. It was hard to maintain forward momentum. The higher I got, the less steps I took before stopping to take deep breaths. The last two pushes to the top are especially hard for everyone. They are one and two hundred feet of elevation gain in less than a half mile. The fittest of hikers struggled equally as the others.
After seven hours of hiking, I passed under the final torii and was at the top. The feeling of great triumph that I was expecting to have, never came. One factor was I had no one to celebrate with. The closest I got was asking someone to take my picture. I summited too late for the ramen shop on the top to be open, so I could not celebrate with a well-deserved lunch either. The timing also took away some of the joy. It was a four-hour hike back down to the Subashiri fifth station bus station. The time was 3:30 pm and the sun set at 6 pm. I was going to have to hike down a portion of the trial in the dark, by myself.
I forced myself to sit down to give my legs a proper rest and enjoy the view when the clouds did not obscure it. After a half hour of appreciating where I was and how I got there I made my way back down. The slippery volcanic soil on the many steep switchbacks caused me to slip and eventually hurt my knees by walking sideways for so long. The long and heavily forested path from the police station to the Subashiri fifth station bus stop was nearly pitch black. Luckily
I had brought a headlamp with me, but it still felt sketchy to do by myself.
After making it back to civilization I could breathe easier. The impact of me having accomplished one of my hardest athletic feats came the following three days afterwards. As each day passed, I reflected more on the journey and accomplishment. The next day we visited the shrine again. The place felt much more special on this visit than before the hike up the mountain.
The second day my friends and I were standing on a bridge in Fujuyoshida. The night sky was clear of clouds, reveling the massive dark shape that was Mt. Fuji against the stars. In the middle of the mountain was a line of lights, curving their way up the mountain. These lights were the stations and most likely some night hikers. I was immediately reminded of watching climbers on El Capitan.
I vocalized this and without any hesitation added, “This is what will happen after I climb El Capitan.”
One of my main climbing partners had invited me before to join her on El Capitan in the future. I had said, sure, but in a wishy-washy way. Now I am confident that I will climb El Captian. I was able to reflect more on this new direction and commitment on the third day, while taking the bullet train to Osaka.
My life felt stale the month prior to the Japan trip. I was too busy to do much climbing, so life was work and preparing for the trip. I felt aimless. Now I have a concrete long-term goal that I can use to base decisions off of when I feel stuck.
My Mt. Fuji experience may not have been what I was expecting it to be, but it was what I needed. I look forward to summiting again, but I hope to not be alone at the top. Maybe a hiking partner will enable me to experience the triumph of success while at the summit. Maybe it will not. It will be worth it either way. Sometimes making it to the top takes second place to a bigger goal that comes during the journey or afterwards.
Castle Rock in Sunol Regional Wilderness
March 2024
Touchstone Climbing Series at The Great Western Power Company
March 2024
If You are Grabbing a Foothold…
Creativity is a sought after quality for many aspects of life. In a work environment it could be the ability to approach a technical problem in a new way. For our hobbies it could be composing a picture, writing lyrics to a song, etc. In the rock climbing realm creativity is figuring out how best to complete the beta of climb when our bodies are different heights and have different levels of flexibility.
Beta is the intended way to climb a route.
I find flexibility to be a bigger problem for me than my shorter height. Getting creative with my footwork, rotating my hips and jumping when necessary can get me out of a situation when a hold is out of reach. I have encountered a few situations on the wall, when my legs could not stretch or bend enough. In these times I could not advance any further. Maybe getting better at smearing will help.
Alternatively, I met someone who was too tall to get into rock climbing. This six foot seven inch guy found the beginner routes really easy. He felt like he could reach the top after a few jumps. The logical solution was for him to try the routes where the holds are more spaced out. At this level of climbing, the holds become much smaller or if they are big, they are slopers with no grip. As a beginner climber he did not have the proper finger techniques down to get anywhere on these routes, so he quit.
Still, the beta is the beta and should not be completely ignored. This is where route reading, taking the time to analyze the route: the general flow of the route, the types of holds and how to use them, the order of hand and foot placements, etc., come into play. I try to do this before every climb if possible.
This does not mean I read the route correctly all the time. There typically are sections that look easy to me, but in fact turn out to be difficult. I try to figure out another way to approach the problem while on the wall, but usually need to release the holds and get the bigger picture.
I can still be stubborn and think the beta is too hard for me to do. Therefore, I need to create a new way through the problem. This hardly works though and when it does, I am more tired than I should be.
Recently I was in a scenario when I had to stretch my leg way to the right, but it looked too far. Instead, I tried using my legs to push me up where there are only a few foot holds to grab. Beyond that I had no idea what I was going to do. My belayer reaffirmed my initial thought of having to go to the right. Reluctantly I tried going to the right and was able to make the move.
If you are a creative person like me, break the beta when you have to. Just do not make the climb any harder than it has to be. Do not let your creative approaches hold back your climbing.
In the wise words of my belayer, “If you are grabbing a foothold, you are doing something wrong.”
Climbers Notes
UI | VUI | UI Animation
A smart watch app that allows climbers to take verbal notes mid climb that will be read back when the matching elevation is met on future attempts.
The Ghosts of Rock Climbing
I saw a ghost this Halloween.
Hiding up the climbing wall was the sickly green ghost. The perfect shade of green to match the other holds along the route. It’s drawn on chalk eyes, nose and mouth stared at me the entire ascent.
While I made it halfway up the run, I could not get past the ghost. The trick to using the large and smooth half oval hold for leverage eluded me. The reason I made as far as I did was the advice of my belay partner. Which brings me to the real ghosts of rock climbing.
Belay partners come and go, but what sticks around to haunt me are the lessons I learn from them.
My first experience of this is when I was trying to break into the 5.10C category routes. I could never really get started. At most I could only make two or three moves. On cue came a belay partner, who happened to be a former power lifter. His mentality was to set your feet and lunge for the highest hold you can reach. Climb as quickly as possible and leave my arms fully extended.
Being a static climber, this was a new way of climbing to me. The puzzle aspect is one of the reasons why I like rock climbing. I prefer to slow down climbing and pause after every move to assess my options. My height however makes this an ineffective way to climb. After spending an evening climbing with him, I realized that if I want to advance in my climbing, I need to incorporate some dynamic moves on the wall.
I encountered the next ghost another evening. At this time, I had no problem incorporating dynamic moves into my climbs. The problem came after making the dynamic moves. To try to preserve my arm strength I would keep my arms outstretched. This meant sticking my body away from the wall, which defeated the purpose. This was especially bad on runs where I really struggled.
Luckily my belay partner that evening pointed this out to me. The rest of the evening I made a point to pay attention to this habit and attempt to correct it. I noticed that on the climbs I stayed close to the wall were indeed much less draining on my arms.
Those were the ghosts of my past. Welcome to the ghost of my present.
Figuring out how to consistently combine the two ghosts of my past proved difficult. On some routes it seemed like they could not work together. How could I keep my arms fully extended while at the same time being close to the wall? That Halloween night my belay partner provided me the answer.
Watching her climb I realized she has really good control and use of her lower body. She was consciously shifting her body weight and flagging with her legs. All of this was a mystery to me. I had tried these techniques on my own, but I was missing the goal of them. She told me they were about creating and maintaining tension. This was the key for the techniques to click in my head.
Among other benefits, these techniques make it is easier for me to maintain straight arms and be close to the wall on the harder routes.
I wonder what the ghost of my future will teach me?
Climbing is Zen
Previously if I was asked to picture someone meditating it would be them sitting or lying down, slowly doing little to nothing, while taking deep breaths. This image made the idea of mediation unappealing to me.
This idea of mediation, was no longer applicable after I started rock climbing this summer. Who would have thought a strenuous activity like climbing would provide me the clarity of mind that I had sought after for so many years. The constant flow of creative ideas and thoughts about things I have to do are now quiet.
I had achieved temporary clarity before through photography, listening to live music and competing in sports, like baseball and basketball, but it never lasted long after the activity ended. Climbing twice a week creates lasting peace. A climbing session early on in the week clears my head from the weekend. One later in the week helps me process everything the life throws at me.
I chalk up this noumenon to the intense concentration required to successfully climb a route. If I am halfway up and I allow my thoughts to drift away from the route, I will fall off. If I maintain my focus on the holds within my reach, I have a much greater chance of staying on the wall and reaching the top.
All that concentration makes reaching the top of the route that much more rewarding.
But it is not always about reaching the top. If I am able to make it farther up a run than I did the previous attempt, I feel good. When I have an off day in the gym and make very little progress on anything, I get as much peace of mind as I do on the successful days.
The most meditative part of climbing for me is the struggle. The physical struggle is obvious. What isn’t so obvious is the mental side.
Games are fun to me because it challenges my brain. After acquiring an understanding of the rules comes analyzing different ways to apply the rules to form a winning strategy. Rock climbing is the same experience to me.
Examples of the rules are how to start of the route (where your hands need to be, does your body need to lean to one side?), what holds can used to ascend the climb, etc. The analysis is which holds to use, where to grab them, which ones to use to pull versus to push off of, etc. This puzzle is becoming even more apparent as I attempt more difficult routes. One of my current challenges is find the beta and not overcomplicate the way up the wall.
My desire to be active, both mentally and physically, and to push myself towards improvement is easily fed by this hobby. I hope to take it step further and work in this field. Feel free to check out my writing, photos, video and design work on this blog. Let me know if I can help with any short or long term projects.