I like to view climbing challenges as risks. Some of these are risks in the commonly understood sense: there is a chance of serious bodily injury. Other climbing risks involve little or no physical danger, but may be intimidating or frightening for any number of reasons. You risk a thrilling but safe air fall. You risk the feeling of “failure” or embarrassment in front of onlookers. You risk “blowing your redpoint.” You risk putting yourself in a situation where you need to hold on uncomfortably hard for uncomfortably long, etc. Psychologically speaking, these risks are as real as the risk of physical injury.

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In the Warrior’s Way® method, taking a risk involves three phases: preparation, transition, and action. In preparation, you gather objective information about a risk. Once you’ve done this, you move into transition and make a decision about whether or not a risk is appropriate. If the risk is appropriate, you move into action.

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Here we are concerned only with preparation and the best frame of mind for that task. For proper preparation, you need to break out of your tendency to rush or stall and do active, focused thinking. Active thinking uses intention. Intention is attention focused in the direction of a choice. When you are at a rest stance, your choice is to focus your thinking processes on gathering information in preparation for the next challenge.

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“Information” means objective information. If you begin thinking about how difficult the climbing will be, then you’re being subjective. “Difficult” basically means “stressful,” a signal that your mind is straying off task and beginning its comfort-seeking tricks. This kind of thinking is not intentional. It is habitual, based on how you have dealt with stress in the past. Instead of actively thinking, you are allowing your mind to run its habitual stress-avoidance thoughts through your mental space.

Charleston Parks, SC Grads

Register at the following gyms:

• Inner Peaks, Charlotte, NC, April 7 (6-10pm), 704-844-6677
• The Climbing Place, Fayetteville, NC, April 10, (6-10pm), 910-486-9638
• Charleston Parks, Charleston, SC, April 11 (9-1pm), 843-762-8090

———– TOUR  DEBRIEF ————–

We had some clinics cancel due to the lateness of scheduling them, but the ones that did go off had curious students really applying the material. See pic here from Charleston, SC.

“Hands down, this camp was the best thing I have done for my climbing! Thanks again.” John Farrell, Phoenix, AZ

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This course is geared toward aspiring trad leaders who want to learn how to lead trad routes without being paralyzed by the fear of falling. After the weekend you’ll climb stronger, smarter, safer and more efficiently, and you’ll have the skills you need for leading traditional routes, through the application of the Warriors Way material.

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• Sept 17-19, 2010, New River Gorge, WV

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You’ll learn or improve the following skills:

• Place and assess trad lead protection
• Build belay anchors
• Lead traditional routes safely and efficiently
• Take practice falls on your gear to develop confidence in your gear placements
• Crack climbing technique on cracks of all sizes from finger cracks to offwidths
• Effective risk assessment allowing you to take appropriate risks
• Improve self awareness, effective resting skills, deliberate decision-making, improving commitment, increasing climbing momentum, and improved problem-solving skills
• Improve safety awareness

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Pre-requisites:

• Able to lead 5.8 sport, or top-rope 5.9 with no falls
• Climb indoors/outdoors at least 1-2 times per week
• At least 6 months of continuous climbing experience within the last year

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Instructors:

Arno Ilgner and Elaina Arenz-Smith

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Investment:

This Trad Camp is reasonably priced at $425 for 3 days of instruction in an intimate group setting. Check our Discounts on Training for discounts on these camps.

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Registration:

Call New River Mountain Guides at 800-732-5462.

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Please call or email us for other questions you may have.

Elaina: 800-732-5462, info@newriverclimbing.com

Arno: 615-406-3404, arno@warriorsway.com

Title: Trad Climbing…The Warrior’s Way

Description:

This course is geared toward aspiring trad leaders who want to learn how to lead trad routes without being paralyzed by the fear of falling. After the weekend you’ll climb stronger, smarter, safer and more efficiently, and you’ll have the skills you need for leading traditional routes, through the application of the Warriors Way material.

You’ll learn to:

• Place and assess trad lead protection
• Build belay anchors
• Lead traditional routes safely and efficiently
• Take practice falls on your gear to develop confidence in your gear placements
• Cracks of all sizes from finger cracks to offwidths
• Assess risks effectively, allowing you to take appropriate risks
• Improve self awareness, rest effectively, make deliberate decisions, improve commitment, increase climbing momentum, and improve problem-solving skills
• Improve safety awareness

Pre-requisites:

• Able to lead 5.8 sport, or top-rope 5.9 with no falls
• Climb indoors/outdoors at least 1-2 times per week
• At least 6 months of continuous climbing experience within the last year

Instructors:

Arno Ilgner and Elaina Arenz-Smith

Investment:

Reasonably priced at $429 for 3 days of instruction in an intimate group setting. Check our “Discounts on Training” for discounts on these camps.

Space limited to 8 participants.

Registration:

When: April 15-17, 2011, at New River Gorge, WV

How: Call New River Mountain Guides at 800-732-5462.

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Please call or email us for other questions you may have.

Elaina: 800-732-5462, info@newriverclimbing.com

Arno: 615-406-3404, arno@warriorsway.com

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Student Comments

“Elaina and Arno work well together as a teaching team. Both are patient and thorough, probing the student to push the comfort zone after assessing the situation. I liked the questions they asked, forcing me to think, rather than giving me the answers.”

–Sophia Chiron Stevens

“I have learned different trad aspects from many experienced climbers over time, but this camp combines all that advice and more in one weekend.”

–Meredith Greenspan

“I like how you put us on such challenging climbs. Your method of instruction made me feel the consequences of doing something wrong (bad placement). However, I felt safe at the same time. I would love to come back for further instruction. Thanks.”

–Matt Hylton

Mental Lies

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The mind doesn’t like stress and will engage in thought processes designed to escape that stress. Often, these thought processes seem reasonable, but they have an ulterior motive of evasion. Many climbers have discovered this tendency of the mind. My first glimpse of it was many years ago as an intermediate climber in Boulder, Colorado. I was working my way through the climbing grades until I was able to climb 5.8s regularly. I wanted to push into 5.9s and had chosen one called Curving Crack on Castle Rock in Boulder Canyon. I was poised at a subtle stance below the last 15 feet, saying to myself, “I don’t think I can do it.” My mind told me to give up, but for no real reason I moved on anyway. Without thinking, I began stemming, laybacking, and jamming my shoes in the crack. I placed a nut and continued. The climbing was strenuous but doable. Stemming seemed to give me stability, and before I knew it, I pulled over the top.

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At the time, I couldn’t believe it. I had felt quite certain I could not do the route, yet I had. I would later realize that almost every climber has had a similar experience. When you dissect these experiences, you find that your mind creates conceptions of situations that you haven’t yet engaged. Since the situation is unknown, these conceptions are not based on fact and often are false. Consider the magnitude of this realization: Your mind gives you false information prior to engaging a new situation. This false information is essentially a lie.

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Realizing that your mind lies to you is a bit unsettling, to say the least. But how could it be otherwise? How can your mind know something before you actually engage? It can’t, and this realization is the beginning of understanding how your mind works.

Description:

The Rock Warrior’s Way: Mental Training for Climbers, first published in 2003, outlines the foundation of the Warrior’s Way ® material. Espresso Lessons takes the material into practical climbing situations. It is the “how to” application of The Rock Warrior’s Way, intended to build upon and complement it.
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Mental fitness training is simply improving your ability to keep attention in the moment. The most challenging—and interesting— moment in rock climbing is when your mind doubts whether or not you can continue climbing. Knowing when it is appropriate to push through this doubt and when to back off is critical for taking appropriate risks.
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Espresso Lessons helps you take appropriate risks. It is an intentional approach to risk-taking that includes very specific processes for gathering information, assessing risks, making risk decisions, and taking effective action.
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Many climbers ignore or avoid falling. Espresso Lessons addresses falling head-on, through intentional falling practice. It also includes specific exercises to practice all phases of risk-taking, allowing you to integrate the Warrior’s Way ® material in a practical and tangible way.
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$19.95

Description:

Desiderata Institute (2006) Second Edition
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Mental training is scarcely covered in the climbing literature, yet it is as important to performance as strength, flexibility, and technique. In his unique approach to mental training, Arno Ilgner draws essential elements from the rich “warrior” literature, as well as from sports psychology, and combines these with his extensive climbing experience to create The Rock Warrior’s Way.
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Here is a comprehensive program for learning how to focus your mental resources during a challenging climb. It includes step-by-step guidance on motivation analysis, information gathering, risk assessment, mental focus, and deliberate transition into action.
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Poor use of attention creates fear, which can manifest itself as anything from performance anxiety to sheer terror. By using attention more purposefully we can understand how fear is created, deal with it effectively, and free ourselves to get back in touch with a far more powerful motivating force: our love of climbing. We can then create the kind of unbending intention that leads to outstanding performance. The Rock Warrior’s Way is a revolutionary program for climbers who want to improve both their performance and their enjoyment of climbing.
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$18.95

Description:

Audio Book, by Arno Ilgner

Desiderata Audio (2006) Compact Disc CD Format, 6 CDs, approximately 6 hours, unabridged, read by the author
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$29.95

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This  is taught at a local crag or gym. Contact us to schedule a date prior to purchasing.

$375.00