This past weekend marked the change in seasons for our kind, the rock junkies. Although here in Arkansas "Rocktober" was a little warm, November has come. No longer do we have to fight the landscape and the time of day for shade. For what seems like an eternity we were like lizards in the desert. As the temperatures soared we devised climbing plans to take into account the aspect, the time of day to chase the shade. That was then. Now we have begun to welcome it. The sun's warmth, the cold hands, the feeling of leaves under our feet. The excitement builds.
We have waited for what seems like an eternity for this. We have dreamed of certain climbs, certain movements, certain grades. We have dreamed of testing ourselves against the stone. We have fallen, we have bled, we have trained and we have sweat all for the moments to come. The storm before the calm. We have yearned all year round on artificial walls, on rock rings, and on campus boards for the feeling of flow. For the focus that we achieve on the wall is like nothing else. Our own little bubble in the sky. A place so far detached from the mundane of everyday life. So far away from
smartphones and LCD monitors. A place where nothing else matters. No drama, no emails, no tweets. There are no depressing headlines or traffic lights. There is only you. You and the rock. A place of serenity, a place of fear, but most of all a place of experience.
Wherever we go, to the boulders, to the mountains, or somewhere in between...
However, we climb, on the rock, the snow, or the ice...
We are the sharp end. We are a tribe.
And there is no better time than now.
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