Carving the stone

 A few weeks ago I wrote a post about what keeps me motivated in all aspects of life.  It became a very popular post and a lot of people wrote me back and told me that they enjoyed the post.  Thank you guys for reading and keeping my motivation up!  As you may remember, I listed a few reasons why I keep climbing.  The truth is, most of the reasons really had nothing to do with climbing, but more to do with being outside and enjoying nature.  I reread my own post today - because for the first time in a while, I didn't feel like climbing.

What happened?  You may ask.  I think it has to do with the ke mentality that I apparently lack right now.  What is ke?  It's the Chinese word for to carve or to engrave, as to ke a book to study, or ke a difficult route on the wall.  As an Asian kid, you were taught to ke the books so that you would be at the top of the class.  Ke the piano all night in hopes of being that prodigy on that stage.  I think I used to be that kid, but now I lack the attention or interest to do so. 

Apparently, the Chinese climbers here still like to ke all day, and I admire their persistence.  But it totally kills my interest in climbing.  I know it's good to work on something really hard once in a while to push beyond your comfort zone - but what if it's something that you can't even get up on top rope?  It was very frustrating to work on something all day that I could not even get more than 20 ft. off the ground (and it was only a 12b, which is doable for me generally on top rope).  At that point, I would normally move on and work on something slightly easier that is still challenging for me, so that my improvement would be in small increments rather than one big leap.  Obviously not being able to send the problem means I lack finger strength, core, form, etc., and repeating it again and again the same day would not help me send the climb.  It would only bring me pain and the possibility of injuries. 

OK, fine. I'm just complaining because I set my bar too high and I can't get up the climb.  But I think that the underlying reason is that week after week I am stuck at the same crag with the same 6 lines of climbs.  It's like going to the gym, where you only have a choice of two 5.10s, two 5.11s, and two 5.12s to climb.  I suggested going to a different crag but Mantou is working on the 5.12 climb and he is the alpha of the pack so everyone just stays with him.

I ended up taking a nap on the rock and not even bothering to climb.  When I was snoozing yesterday, three non-Chinese came up and called my name in English and woke me up.

Rose Mary?  The guy said with a thick German accent.
How do you know my name?  I woke up, confused because someone called me in English.
It's Torsten, the guy you met at Joshua Tree last year!
I've been meaning to contact this guy since I got back to Beijing, but didn't do so because I knew he already had climbing partners and I did too.

Ola's 8nu profile pic

He came with two female climbers, both names I had heard of since I've been at Baihe.  These are the few non-Chinese climbers that also ke routes all day, but  they also happen to be the best climbers in their respective countries.  One of the climbers is a Polish woman named Aleksandra Przybysz (Ola), and the other a Finnish woman named Katariina Rahikainen (Kata).  The hardest these two can climb are 13d and 13c, which I cannot even fathom in my lifetime.  The three of them have been developing new routes (along with the local climbers) and First Ascending (FA) some of the hardest climbs in the area.  Torsten is mainly a trad climber and is in charge of bolting the anchors, then they take turns working on the moves on TR before bolting the entire line.  Lately the ladies have been sending a bunch of FAs.  Ola pointed at a 5.11d climb close to the one they were developing and told me that THIS was her very first FA.  I knew how much that meant to any climber, to be the FA of a climb.  I had never witnessed this before so it kept me interested for a while (while Mantou was STILL keing his 5.12b line). 

While I know that I would never be such a strong climber, especially not at face climbing like these three, it was still good to meet them and see what it means to be some of the best climbers in the world.

The answer to being the best in anything is: you do have to ke, stay focused, and work hard.

For the rest of us average folks, being good enough is sometimes better than being perfect.