encouragement, with a side of sends
Normally when bouldering, I hop around taking photos or rapid-fire at my project for an hour or so. It was the fifth and final day of our climbing trip and I found myself shuffling pads behind Grandfather Mountain in beautiful western North Carolina. Cody began to climb and slipped his right hand into a slot and his left hand onto a perfectly sculpted crimp, bringing his left foot to my eye level. “Keep breathing, Cody. You’ve got this.” He locked off on this right, spanning to the good hold well above the sculpted crimp. I began to move pads again, as he steadily made his way up the 15 feet of slabby, beautiful rock. It took him a minute to gain good footing at the top, but when he did, I began to clap, and he let out a rambunctious whoop that comes with accomplishing the things you didn’t think you could!
At the beginning of our trip, while driving into the mountains conversing about what rocks to go after, Cody mentioned that his skin had just begun to turn over and peel. As a middle school teacher and wrestling coach, he doesn’t have too much time to climb outside when it’s actually climbing season in the southeast. This was his first opportunity to be outside since November. We decided that it would be best to ease ourselves onto the rock, and be careful with his skin. Two days into our five day trip though, he had blown through two fingertips, and ripped a large flapper in his palm and an index finger.
Luckily for me, my skin was holding up a little better, and when we joined with friends, Cody found himself spending the majority of his time spotting, shuffling pads, and encouraging us to try harder. When I stuck one extra move on a new climb, he was pushing me and telling me how strong I was looking. Our friend, Caroline, finished her first V7, and for hours afterwards he would have a moment and just stop and say, “that was awesome,” because he was so psyched for her new accomplishment. When we were frustrated with lack of progress on a climb, he’d think of something else we could work on, or would encourage us with our other successes of the day. Even as I write this, I think back to Cody’s first time at Horse Pens 40. HP40 is nearly always a humbling first experience, yet he was so encouraging to me as I put together one of my best days and he worked super hard to learn the new style and subtleties of the rock. Simply put, Cody is a master of affirmation and encouragement.
Our fourth day came to an end, and Cody had displayed immense self-control and hadn’t climbed much of anything for days three and four. His skin was looking a bit better because of the rest, while my skin, on the other hand (pun intended), was very done. As we discussed what he wanted to attempt, he kept straying from wanting to try anything at his limit. I kept pushing him to try that which scared him- a 15 foot block of pure beauty that I had finished the previous day. He wanted to do an equally tall, easier graded problem, that fit more of his strength- big holds and big moves with ample heel-hooks. When that went down in only two tries, we were able to reconsider what was next before heading home.
Cody on his way to topping M1, much quicker than he expected.
As we discussed our options, I pushed, and I pried, and I challenged him to challenge himself, until we found ourselves at the base of this gorgeous problem. And then, with some determination, our time crunch, and a threat of him not getting any more brownies without a send, found himself at the top of it only three attempts later, so psyched to have completed a problem that he had only 30 minutes prior psyched himself out of even attempting.
When climbing with friends, we often think about trading sends and taking turns working our projects. I think Cody taught me this weekend that it might be better to approach it with the mindset of taking turns encouraging your partner. At that point, you’ll find success regardless of whether it was through your own accomplishments, or by being a part of that new grade, first ascent, or try-hard moment that your friend experienced.
Cody sending Iceberg, V5, in North Carolina. Music, a personal favorite of Cody's, Tessellate, Alt J.
