DMGBouldering
Wow. Took an evening last night to go bouldering with Laura at Stoney Point, and discovered that all my gym climbing prowess is totally worthless when faced with friction problems.
Am I strong? Sure. Am I flexible? Moreso every day. Can I crimp? Yep. Do I need any of that to climb a 5.8-ish corner at Stoney? Absolutely not. I need balance. I need technique. I need to trust my feet and lean to the side so that rail becomes useful, but not so much that I barn door. I need to keep some weight on my left foot, but too much and I'll pop out of this useless potato chip I've got my fingernails behind.
In short, I utterly, utterly suck. It's wonderful.
It was crazy to be Elvis-legging my way around some slopey traverse, and find a solid crimp, and suddenly have all my strength back. Just goes to show that it's not about strength, it's about knowing how to use the holds you have.
Climbing outside means I get a lot less climbing in than I do at the gym. Lots of time spent roaming, looking for the next problem.
But it was really fun. I'll be investing in a crash pad, I think, and doing this more often. It definitely got me back to what I originally loved about climbing: getting better isn't an end in itself; I want to get better so I can do more of these great climbs.