Crag X Climbing Gym

January 2, 2010
It has been ten years of climbing! What a sweet way to relate to the world between solid rock and empty space – so many experiences with friends in nature: the sights of raptors hovering about the crag where it meets the sky as clouds move past in a parade of meaninglessness, meeting up with beautiful rattlesnakes and big horn sheep in Skaha Bluffs, swimming naked in the lake next to Cress Creek after a day of sport climbing, the big rappel into the air off the Monkey Face in Smith Rocks, making hand puppets using the fire light flickering off of the boulders at camp in Joshua Tree while hearing the sounds of Coyotes in the distance.

I met up Deane and Kerri at Crag X today – both have embraced climbing in one form or another for a large part of their lives and there seems to be no end in sight for either of them; they’re both strong climbers even when they’re not training – both are have confidently climbed in the 5.12 and 5.13 range which for many climbers is a dream for another lifetime. There is so much beauty and energy in the many ways they encounter the activity and this can be seen in their unique and bold moves and problem solving.

Their climbing style and even their personalities seem to balance the sense that nothing is really solid with the view that everything is fixed. This way of being recognizes and accepts that everything is changing – our bodies, the holds, our relationship, our identity, the gear. They’re naturally light hearted because they are for the most part letting go into the moment when they're climbing and this translates into joyful lives even when they're not climbing.