The Selfish Conquistadors Of The Useless

Just pull up and grab the freaking hold!

As the daylight and my patience were dying all I could think was: Will there be time for MY project?

I had taken a few brand-new climbers out, with hopes of introducing them to the local crag… and (of course) accomplishing my secret agenda: try the route that’s been haunting my dreams for the last month.

I set some easy climbs up for them. It was an evening, so we didn’t have much time before we all had to head back home. With work in the morning, we all needed some time to get dinner and sleep. 

It excited me to be out there with these two friends, as we had been talking about climbing at work all summer. But I couldn’t help but want them to just GET GOING! 

Goodness! Beginners take forever! Just get to the top so I CAN CLIMB…

I feel quite awful now that I couldn’t be patient. Yes, one reason I was out there was to climb what I wanted to do, but I was completely forgetting the others.

In 1963, alpinist Lionel Terray published Conquistadors Of The Useless, a climbing book whose title reminds us how pointless climbing is. This jumped to my mind… how could I be so wrapped up in my own silly pursuits that I couldn’t focus on helping others have a good time? 

Because I’m human… I care about myself. We all do!  Yet the most valuable experiences in life are shared, even if you are just climbing a rock…

While the book’s title does suggest utter uselessness, climbing has changed my life. Funny how something so stupid can do that. While some enjoyment has come from getting to do what I want, the best moments were with others. 

Climbing is often considered a personal sport. While your performance can be self centered, the enjoyment of climbing can be shared!

Then every time crunched evening can be one to remember…

The evening in question… as you can see, being in rush didn’t work out too well anyway!