Hitting the Wall
An excerpt from Jim Collins’s life changing-chapter in Upward Bound
In studying climbing history, I noticed a pattern: climbs once considered “impossible” by one generation of climbers eventually became “not that hard” for climbers two generations later. 5.10 seemed nearly impossible to climbers in the early 1960s, but by the late 1970s, top climbers routinely on-sighted 5.10 as warm ups for harder projects. I read up on how records fell in other sports and noticed the same pattern. For ten years, the world record in the mile stood at 4:01, and no-one seemed able to break the four minute barrier. But once Roger Bannister broke it in 1954, the world record fell six seconds over the next ten years. By the late 1970s, when I was trying Genesis, the mile record had fallen to under 3:50 — people had not only figured out how to run sub-four, but they were doing so at the end of the 5,000 meters!
So, I decided to play a psychological trick on myself. I realized that I would never be the most gifted climber, or the strongest climber, or the boldest climber. But perhaps I could be the most futuristic climber. I did a little thought experiment: I tried to project out fifteen years, two generations of climbers later, and ask myself, “What will Genesis seem like to climbers in the 1990s?” The answer came back clear as a bell. In the 1990s, the top climbers in the world would routinely on-sight Genesis, viewing it as simply a warm up for even harder routes. And less-talented athletes would view Genesis as a worthy challenge, but hardly impossible. The barrier, I realized, was primarily psychological, not physical.
I decided to pretend in my own mind that it was not 1979, but 1994. I bought a little day timer calendar and changed all the year dates. I walked into the canyon and tried to picture Genesis the way a 1990s climber would look at it.
With that change in psychology, I managed to free climb the route. It caused quite a sensation and confused many of the best climbers of the day. They were still climbing in 1979, whereas I had “transported” myself psychologically to 1994. And, indeed, by the early 1990s, these same elite climbers climbed Genesis routinely, no longer thinking of it as particularly hard. I watched one elite climber visiting from out of state walk to the base, nonchalantly rope up, climb flawlessly to the top, and lower down only to say, “Nice route” — and then amble off in search of stiffer stuff.
