Since I started climbing as a young teenager, I've dreamt of being a well-rounded climber. The kind who could stand beneath any terrain -- rock, snow or ice -- of any magnitude and ascend upward with confidence.
Frenchman Jean-Christophe Lafaille embodied my dream and was my ultimate climbing hero. He seemingly planned his life perfectly around being an all-around climber, peaking in different disciplines appropriate to his age and skill set.
In 1989, at the age of 24, he was one of the first people in the world to climb a sport route rated 5.14b, the top of the difficulty scale at the time.
Also in his 20s he established some of the most difficult routes in the Alps, often solo. From his late 20s on he climbed extensively in the Himalaya where he summited 11 of the world's highest mountains, often solo and/or by new routes.
He was, in my opinion, the best all-around climber in the world ... until he disappeared in January 2006 attempting the first winter ascent, solo, of Makalu, the world's fifth-highest mountain.
The death of my hero crushed me.
I suddenly grasped for meaning in my own climbing. (My desire for versatility remained, albeit with a few caveats, like, if I die in the mountains I'm no longer well-rounded). Somehow, I decided an appropriate tribute to Lafaille's life would be to match just one of his many achievements.
I'm neither bold enough nor skilled enough to equal even one of his countless alpine feats. I also have no interest in free-soloing (climbing without a rope) 5.13 like Lafaille did in 1989. So, I figured the best I could do was to try to climb a 5.14b -- with a rope (much safer).
The problem is, in terms of hard sport climbing, I haven't measurably improved in over a decade. I squeezed what little talent and genetic advantage I had 10 years ago when I climbed my first 5.14a (one grade easier than Lafaille's best). The good news is, being decidedly ungifted, I'm used to trying hard.
Climbing the next grade has been on my goal list for the past five years. And for five years straight, I haven't been able to check it off. As I penned my 2011 list of climbing goals a few months ago, I declared, in Lafaille's memory, that this was the year to attempt the hardest route of my life. I moved to Las Vegas for the winter in order to flog myself on a 5.14b called Reverse Polarity at nearby Mount Potosi -- one of the few winter sport cliffs in America.
Never mind that I'm 12 years older than Lafaille when he did his hardest rock route. My friend Bill Ramsey, a 50-year-old philosophy professor at UNLV, is also trying Reverse Polarity.
In his 40s, Ramsey climbed several 5.14bs, and he's now very close to finishing both Reverse and a 5.14c called Annihilator. (FYI: I hate him for negating my excuse that I'm too old to climb harder). Ramsey is deeply admired in the climbing community for his try-hard -- his tenacity for devoting one or more climbing seasons to a single pitch of rock. He believes that unless a climber is willing to attempt a route at least 80 times, he or she isn't trying hard enough. This approach to sport climbing demands an extremely high tolerance for failure. Because of this, Ramsey says: "Most people aren't psychologically strong enough to climb at their physical limit."
Jean-Christophe Lafaille was one of the strongest climbers ever to have lived. He was also one of few people who truly pushed himself to his physical and psychological limits in pursuit of his passion.
As for me, I may never climb the next grade. After my first 12 attempts to climb Reverse Polarity, I could only link three or four moves at a time. That's progress, considering each individual move was a major challenge on my first few tries, but still a mile away from completion.
Even if I can't climb Reverse Polarity, trying hard always seems to pay off. I'm drawing on inspiration from climbers like Lafaille, Ramsey and many others with whom I've been blessed to share a rope. Their examples nudge me to keep trying my best in pursuit of my own passion, regardless of the result.
Chris Weidner:Boulder Daily Camera
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→Climbing in the zone.
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