UKC

How do you cope with run outs?

"I've never been any good at running it out - as soon as the gear is by my feet I start getting scared. Even if I know the gear is 100% bombproof, and the fall will be a clean one." wrote Nick Smith.

Dave MacLeod takes a look at "The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training for Climbers by Arno Ilgner" for some answers.

Dave writes:

"In fact, throughout the book I recognised most of the mental strategies that have led to the best performances by climbers operating at the limits of climbing of all types, including bold routes."

Read the review here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=434

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

About time this book got some more attention. RWW is not so much a useful climbing book as a very important one - particularly about one's attitude towards climbing and life.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Wow. I must say, it's great to be held up as a shining example of a complete climbing scaredy-cat in front of so many tens of thousands of people... ;P

but at least I know what my bedtime reading will be for the next week!

In reply to Nick Smith - UKC:

Ditto Nick. My lead head needs serious work.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

BUMP.

This should not be passing under the radar. A lot of people should be checking out this book, for a variety of reasons.

In reply to Fiend:


Give it time Fiend. Many access articles directly, just like the news page (which gets viewed 2,000 times a day), rather than via the forums.

For example:all by Arno

Motivation Justification went up on 17/Apr/2007 and has had 2,817 views
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=401

Feeling Safe is Dangerous is dangerous has had 7,074 views

Why Are You Taking a Risk? has had 8,636 views

Mick

In reply to Fiend: I have not finished the book yet. It's made a big difference in helping me focus when climbing, and giving more structure, helping me remember why I climb, how I approaching etc. It does bring together a lot of ideas many people may be aware of and apply them to climbing. I agree it can be a bit difficult to read, but definately well worth it.

PS thanks for recommending it.

In reply to rock waif:

Ta. I must confess it was Justin aka Dark Star and Derbyshire Ben who both recommended it to me.

In reply to Fiend:

.............and UKClimbing.com ( five of Arno's articles here and a review) and Dave Macleod.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

I think this article was pretty dissappointing, probably because it is only a review. Dave's own soloing advice from a few years ago in a mag about taking a step back to consider what you're doing then plugging your ego in and doing it, was way better.

I don't think Rock Warrior's way is that important at all, as the impression I got was it treats climbing like a static unpressured activity. By the time I've Observed, Focussed, Committed and remembered what the other four steps are I've got pumped and fallen off. Like the rockfax sport climbing book, it's still lacking when it comes to onsighting, dealing with the unknown, or when precise route finding is not
possible from the ground. I've had to work my own question out about `blank rock' for myself.

Two of his annecdotes were about finding out how to do a move which is de rigeur when working a sport or sport-trad route on top rope or bouldering, and finding some crimps in a blank wall that he hadn't seen before. Big deal, clearly Arno's never climbed on SE Wales sandstone.

How do you cope with runouts:

By not thinking, e.g. that you're going to fall off.

In reply to...

tag

In reply to Fiend:

yeah im still waiting for you to send me my copy.

Remember 'red parade'?

In reply to Paz:

Paz your climbing philosophy is very interesting and I have increasing respect for it, but I this case I have to differ entirely.

Okay so you've got an approach that works for you. I was developing, over many years of hard psychological effort, an approach that worked for me....then I read RWW and found that clarified what I was discovering in a lot more detail. And almost all the people I know who struggle with progressing with climbing, this book could be very useful.

Further, the attitude of "journey not destination" and "personal power not ego-sating" it promotes is a refreshing antidote to the puerile ticking mentality which saturates climbing. The combination of the use and the message is why I say it is important.


I disagree - it is giving you a desired state of mind and a derived (but admittedly vague) method for coping with the mental stresses of that situation so you can allow your climbing skill to deal with what you've just said. But, as I said, you seem to work with a different state of mind, fair enough...

In reply to Fiend:


"Puerile ticking" is becoming a bit of a UKC meme, isn't it? I've never really got what it means besides doing lots of routes and maybe visiting lots of crags? In which case I'm not really sure why there needs to be any refreshing antidote to it.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Why would any adult want to be a ‘rock warrior’? Most embarrassing!

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Attempted to read this but got hung up on the buzzwords. Jumped to the conclusions chapter in the vain hope it had shaken them off but hit 'positive feedback loops' within two paragraphs.

Maybe I do not have the patience with the writing and am missing the point.

Maybe I should not follow society (ie read the book) but follow my internal mental self. ARGH!

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Not something from the book (which I haven't had a chance to read yet) but I had some success on a run-out route yesterday that I'd normally have not got on at all, or would have backed off.

Managed to just 'switch off' and completely focus on the climbing for 20-30 seconds, which got me through the run out and up to decent gear + holds I can focus like that bouldering, but very rarely when doing routes.

In reply to TobyA:


Presumably you know that 'puerile ticking' was coined by Ken Wilson when the internet was still the ARPAnet?

In reply to Nick Smith - UKC:

I suspect the book would just reiterate the 'zone' you found to run the route out to the holds.

In reply to tobyfk:


So was the term 'meme', but the internet has made it all the more relevant.

In reply to Papillon:


What? Ken Wilson came up with term "meme"? I always thought it was some Oxford social scientist with a very odd hair style!

In reply to tobyfk:


Like "Crag exercising" or whatever it is, which always struck me as equally ridiculous.

In reply to TobyA: haha........pre-internet I meant