In The Beginning There Was... Rock!

Starting out

I started out this venture with an idea of having a perspective on climbing technique that could benefit others. I was consumed with the principles of analysis and the enormous gains to be had by spending just a little bit of time thinking about things. I started documenting these thoughts and shaping it into a message that could be consumed more easily.

A new world appears

In my documentation I started arguing for my points and finding facts to back them up. Much to my surprise, the facts did not match all that well with my understanding and I started to rethink what I knew about climbing technique. This process was very interesting and I learned a lot... things I want to share with you...

Missing the mark

My focus was on the cutting edge of advanced climbing technique and exploring topics and issues others were not even contemplating. Digging into this and gathering facts for my message, I found myself digging a hole in the ground. How many climbers would I reach, and how would that message be received? I gradually came to realise that I was missing the mark. The vast majority of climbers would not be ready for my message.

One step back

I regrouped and refocused my efforts into a broader approach to climbing technique. I started looking at the full spectre of the topic and trying to satisfy more needs. I also found the existing material was lacking. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of brilliant material out there, but there is no complete set of resources, there is no one stop shop for climbing technique. I also found that the otherwise brilliant material was not very focused, there was seldom a clear focus or purpose for each article/video.

Take Two

My first idea (that is... the second idea), was to include more basic climbing technique and then intermediate, before attacking the advanced. The content for basic technique soon lead to the need for some base factual knowledge and the terminology used in climbing. Wikipedia has a good listing of terms, but the more in depth documentation of these is more of a job to find. I decided to build a full library of all the moves with video content that breaks down each one with that sole purpose. No extra tips, no general or other climbing aspects involved, just simply explain each move with its variations.

This lead to the need to do exactly the same for all the techniques (i. e locking off etc). What are they and how do you use them, what do you gain by using them and so on. Here also, separately from any aspects of the move itself, keep the focus on the actual technique.

And what separates a move from a technique? Is crimping a move or a technique? How about rocking over?

Moving on..

Now, moving on... let's see how far along I get before the next reality check :-) Please join in and comment.

May The Normal Force Be With You!