I don't care anymore.

An article in Climbing Magazine that I read today really spoke to what I've been thinking about lately in my own climbing experiences/goals.  The subject of some of my latest blogs has been climbing grades, or more simply put, my thirst to break the 5.11 boundary, which I can safely say I have done now.  What I can also say is something that I have been pondering in my head for the past decade of climbing, and have heard from most veteran climbers as well- grades are stupid.  In my push to break my own "limit", climbing at a level of difficulty that I had not until this year, I have worked on several 5.11's in my local gym.  I wrote earlier on those experiences, and noted that some climbs seems to have one or two "5.11" moves, where others seemed much more sustained in difficulty.  But the grade was the same.  Other routes, established by other climbers and that shared the same grade felt different yet.  A few days ago I flashed a 5.11a, followed by a flash of a 5.11b.  Neither felt as hard as the 5.10a I warmed up on.  It really got me to think over my years of climbing, and all the similar times when I've been climbing in different parts of the country, on routes with differing histories, at times of differing fitness levels, and various types of rock and styles of climbing.  The more I think about it, yearning after a particular grade doesn't really mean much at all.  I could flash several 5.11a routes at my gym, and I know I'd get spit out of any 5.11a crack in Indian Creek I attempted the next day (or be terrified by a runout Black Hills 5.9).  I could struggle on a roof route rated 5.9 on Wall Street, walk 50 feet away to a face climb and flash it at 5.10c.  It's all a bit skewed, right?  So what is a climber supposed to do?  Not what I've been doing.  Don't chase grades just to "get better".  Seek out the experience of whatever climb you happen to rope up on, and enjoy it for whatever feel it has.  Whatever it has to offer.  Only you know when you've been challenged by a climb; only you know what personal grade on that exact day occurred.  So cherish the fun you had climbing that 5.7 crack with your pals, or yawn at how dumb and unimaginative that last 5.10 was.  Feel the rush of crimping your way through a dicey face sequence that pushed you farther than you've gone before.  Rate your climbs by your personal experience.  That's why we started climbing in the first place.  I'm done pre-rating a climb before I've touched it.  Don't walk up to a climb just looking at it's guidebook grade.  Hop on with an open mind and see what it does for you that day.  

Enjoying a stellar day with good friends on good rock, southern UT: