The 3 Stages of Belaying Someone Crushing Your Project

Marshall makes quick twerk of my project Ride the Short Bus 
and looks like a Greco-Roman god doing it.

This summer, I started climbing hard -- well, hard for me. Climbing 5.12 was actually in the realm of possibility if I would ever take the time to actually work on something for more than three burns. And since I was spending a week at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch (where the routes are short and the grades are relatively soft), I thought I would take the time to actually "project" something: Ride the Short Bus, an Obed-esque tiered roof 12a in a pretty impeccable and secluded area of the Ranch. And it didn't hurt that my friend Marshall had tagged along for the ride; a climbing coach and an all around master of psyche, Marshall helps people send.

So after a few pathetic displays of human strength and endurance, Marshall tied in to the business end of the rope to show me some things. And boy, did he. The following are the three stages of my response to his on-sight/flash/whatever/crushfest.

Stage 1: The Student "You are the master, and I am the learner. Teach your ways. Show me your beta." 

In this stage, you are genuinely interested and excited about seeing someone better than you try your climb. You're asking yourself what can you learn from this person? How will they work the crux? Where will they take a rest? What do they do differently? You are inquisitive and open to new possibilities.

Stage 2: The Stoked "Heck yeah! He just cruised that crux! Maybe I can too!"

During the second stage, your psyche dyke has been breached. By now, you have yelled ample "yeah!"'s and "come on!"'s. Your partner is crushing and you are stoked. You are stoked for him and you're stoked at the possibility that maybe you can crush too.

Stage 3: The Stupefied "Are you effing kidding me? There's no way. He never even shook out."

By the third and final stage, your partner has clipped the chains and you're not even sure he took time shake out or chalk up. "What part was I supposed to watch again?" you ask yourself. "He moved so fast I didn't even notice his beta." You are left perplexed and dumbfounded. You begin to question everything you ever thought about yourself. You contemplate your existence and begin to ask if it's really all worth it. "What is the meaning of climbing?" And thus, "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I even here?" "What has this all been about?" You recognize your physical, mental, and human inferiority but instead of getting into the fetal position and crying yourself to sleep on the bathroom floor like you did on prom night, you reluctantly tie in to try again.

"Try hard. Fail often. Succeed next time." - Dave MacLeod

photos by Logan Mahan and Jamie Van Tassle