By Calvin Landrus
Climbing Tip: Find the Rest
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Raising from the Plains, 12b. Calvin's unsent project. |
Leaving a project behind at a distant crag, especially one you think you should have sent, tastes so bitter. When I failed and pulled my five draws (yes it is only 40 feet) from "Raising from the Plains" at Wild Iris in Lander, WY, my friends said all the right things. But they were largely unheard, gobbled up by thoughts of what should have been.
Although its grade is at the top of my gene pool, it should have been sent because each individual move was done without tons of effort. A good rule of thumb is that once you can do each individual move of a route, it becomes a good candidate for a short-term project. So why didn't "Raising" go down after seven tries with the best attempt being one move from the anchor's clipping stance?
As I was pulling my draws, I discovered something that probably would have made the difference. When I pulled myself onto the route to get tension off a draw, I found a position where I could get almost all my weight on my feet, making a small recovery possible. In my hurry to get the climb "on-the-books," I failed to find this only possible rest.
Resting on routes accomplishes at least three things. The first is obvious...it allows the over-taxed muscles, mainly in the forearms, to recover. Another important thing a rest does is that it allows the heart rate to lower. An over-taxed cardio-vascular system will never allow for peak oxygen flow needed to send hard. Resting does one more thing in that it allows for a psychological place to hide. At rests, you can clear your mind and get ready for the next section.
On many routes, the discovery of rests is not too hard because they are most often found at the stance you clip protection from. When that is not the case, they are easy to overlook. On "Raising" the rest I found was two moves into a four move traverse that ended with a reach to good holds on steep terrain. I overlooked it because my normal movement through the moves never brought me into that position of needing to pull-in my hips. When I did, as I was taking off my draws, I found the small holds for my feet felt much better.
So then next time you are working a project, don't only work out the moves but work out the rests. You may not use all the rests that you find but if you do, you will be giving yourself a bigger window to find success on your project.
Life Lesson: Taking His Yoke
Benjamin Franklin said, "He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities." Why is it so difficult to find rest in life? Most often it's due to the voluminous things we feel are essential to be done. Most often they aren't as essential as we think and definitely not as crucial as getting rest.
I like how Jesus offered rest to us in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Many don't seek out the rest of Jesus because they feel they must navigate themselves away from all of the things they are doing that in their mind, God would not be pleased with. That's the labor and burden He speaks of. None of us can please God with our own efforts and in those efforts we will find ourselves exhausted and burdened down.
That feeling of "I must perform" is rooted in pride. In the next part of Jesus's invitation, He speaks of taking His yoke. This refers to living under His authority and through this act of surrender and obedience, the floodgates of finding true rest are opened-up.
One of the great things living under Jesus' authority is it simplifies life. In that place, I find a deep peace because I have found a position of rest. You will too as you trust your life to Jesus.
