THE FULL CIRCLE
By Chris Sharma
When I started climbing in 1994, bouldering was just blowing up and no one had even heard of deep-water soloing, but the sport climbing revolution was in full effect. All of the work done by the early sport-climbing pioneers—discovering new cliffs, developing trails, and bolting hundreds of routes—appeared to be paying off because those climbers who had accepted the new rules of the game, despite their atrocious fashion sense, were free climbing harder than anyone had ever imagined.
Chris Sharma sending at Oliana. Photo (c) Keith Ladzinski.
Three years before, in 1991, Wolfgang Güllich, of Germany, had set the bar high with the world’s first 5.14d, Action Directe, on his home turf. Then, the French climber Jibe Tribout established the first 5.14c on U.S. soil: Just Do It, at Smith Rock, Oregon, in 1992. Each year, it seemed, more routes emerged on longer sweeping faces with super-complex, athletic moves that just flowed into each other. These routes and climbers inspired and motivated me most in those initial years. (I never understood the Lycra tights, however.)
I continued to cut my teeth sport climbing, but increasingly found myself being pulled toward the boulders. First and foremost, I’ve always been intrigued by cool, gymnastic movement on rock—this is what bouldering is all about. I’d go out each day and try to pull as hard as I could on the smallest holds possible, if only to see just how hard a single three-move sequence could be. Bouldering is amazing: no ropes or gear—it’s just you and the rock. It is simultaneously the simplest and the most complex type of climbing there is.
After almost exclusively bouldering for years, in 2004 I took a trip to the Spanish island Mallorca to try my hand at the relatively new sport called “deep-water soloing,” which is climbing up sea cliffs with nothing but the turbulent ocean waves to keep you safe if you fall. The locals in Mallorca, however, call it psicobloc, as in “psycho bouldering,” an apt name since it feels more like an extension of bouldering than anything else.
Discovering psicobloc really brought me a whole new level of motivation. To have the sea as a crash pad gives you the freedom to explore any cliff (up to about 60 feet) as you please. Unlike a sport climb, which has bolts and an anchor at its end, there is no delimited path in psicobloc. It’s cool because in one fraction of a second, you go from climbing on this solid thing, this earth, to floating in its polar opposite. All of the elements are there: the stone, the air when you’re falling, the water, and the fire inside.
While psicobloc is really similar to bouldering, cliffs of these heights are really more like sport climbs. During my stint in Mallorca, climbing over the Mediterranean Sea, I found myself reconnecting to the flow of continuous movement and the fight of being pumped out of your mind—exalting sensations only experienced on a hard sport route. Deep-water soloing ignited something within, and I unexpectedly felt myself being pulled back to sport climbing. In this sense, I guess, I’ve come full circle back to my “routes.”
Photo: Keith Ladzinski
As of 2009, I’ve been sport climbing exclusively, yet things have changed over the years. Everything I’ve learned from bouldering about extreme movement on the rock, and re-learned from the process of working an entire deep-water solo, has made me feel as if I am seeing sport climbing with new eyes.
What does it look like? Routes that aren’t just a ladder of holds, but demand that you really dig deep to unlock bouldery sequences; the fluidity of moving up a big, bad cliff; and the strategy needed to connect the moves before the ticking time bomb of our forearms explodes. Finally, it means giving back to the community through the creative process of bolting and climbing new routes. It’s something I find extremely satisfying on all levels.
At home, in Catalunya. Photo: Keith Ladzinski
And as I get older, there’s one thing I appreciate about sport climbing more than anything: its friendliness on the body. While bouldering is all about holding on as hard as you can to the most painful, small holds, sport climbing allows you to breathe and relax. You connect to the rock with as little grip—both mental and physical—as possible in order to conserve your energy. It’s a type of climbing for all ages and all levels, and it’s never too late to start. I know many people in their mid-50s who climb 5.14, and some of them didn’t start climbing until they were in their late 30s.
The true essence of sport climbing means giving 100 percent, something you can do regardless of how hard you climb. Some of the most inspiring climbers I know project 5.11s, but their motivation is pure and they love what they’re doing. In the end, it’s all about having a good time with your friends, being in a beautiful place, and doing a little climbing.
Sport Climbing: From Toprope to Redpoint, Techniques For Climbing Success not only offers the modern techniques you need to get started, but tips to improve throughout your climbing career. Take the time to enjoy the process, be safe and hopefully your climbing will come full circle, too.
Chris Sharma is one of the most well-known and respected rock climbers in the world. He has been pushing climbing standards for the last 15 years, and continues to do so today, from his home in Catalunya, Spain, where he lives with his girlfriend Daila Ojeda, their dog, Chaxi, and their cat, Calissa.
