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To fall or not to fall; that is the question. 31-May-2009 At 8:16:13 AM stonetroll

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On 30/05/2009 Sarah Gara wrote:
>>
>Right OK next time I'm inside I'll do it. ahhhh... I was leading a grade
>harder than I normmally do the other day and I just kept down climbing
>so I could stand ok. (and hang on ocassion) but I've never needed to fall
>I've always been able to get to a bit where I'm ok.
>
>What do you do though, this feels like a stupid question, just let go
>I guess... x
>

What do you do though ?
Go for it !

If your gear below you is good and your belayer is on the ball, then put everything into focus.

Focus is the art of putting all your concintration and efforts onto a single pin point target.
In climbing, especially in the crux of something that tests you,your focus changes within seconds to fractions of seconds. e.g- As soon as you feel the cool tingley friction on your finger tips that just reached up to a crimper (mental process TICK) the focus moves to putting foot exactly, first shot, on that little crystal just there (mental process TICK) now the concentration is on rocking over and hitting a dead point with the left hand.

So anyway what i'm trying to say is that the climb gets broken down into single moves that allow you to "FOCUS" and give everything to that fraction of a second.

The best thing about being on the sharp end is when there's no option to back off. A decision has to be made. Either i hang here and totally pump then fall anyway. Or try.

And when that attempt at the seemingly impossible, ( such as reaching up and finding this out of sight jug in the odds of death half a second before you're about to die ) becomes the secret piece to a puzzle that with your own courage, skill, strength and "FOCUS", turns into the most awesome move you've pulled . . . . well then don't we get a nice reward of addrenalin.

So being on lead is not realy a queastion of, do i just let go.
99 times out of 100 it's about going for it.

That's what makes me smile anyway. I hope it can make you smile too. : )

And then anyway if you do fall, you won't even know it untill it's over anyway 'cause your mind is so intent on the one objective.
One time when i fell, i can remember thinking for a fraction of a milly second, that it was strange and odd that the nut i just clipped into should be floating up past my eyes.

Then two fractions of a milly second later reality presented the truthe of the situation that gravity had actually sucked me down past the nut.