Going Up

I'm really not that much of a fan of top roping. I've been up enough times now to really kind of have a feel for what it's like. Even if I send a route I just don't really get that much of a sense of satisfaction out of it. I don't know. I can think of a few reasons why I don't really enjoy it as much as bouldering.

1) I'm not that good at it - this is a pretty standard reason for why people don't like anything I guess. I know I can do all the moves, I just have terrible efficiency when I'm going up, and the routes are often long enough that I can't look and plan it out.

2) I'm nervous - even though I'm not conscious about being actually 'afraid' of heights - I'm not. I think I'm always a bit more tense/anxious when I'm going up a top route. It rarely flows really well with me either.

3) Gear - setting up/using gear is sometimes cumbersome for me. I know it's a complete serious necessity in vertical climbing, and I should take it far more seriously than I do, and one day I probably will.

4) It's much harder to project - If you get stuck at a spot on a route, and you want to keep trying during the next day and such, you have to get all the way back to the point where you get stuck at. It uses up a lot of energy and time. If you get stuck on a boulder problem you can just keep getting back on over and over again without any hassle.

5) Less Creative - At the level I can currently top rope, there really isn't all that much creativity in the moves. You pretty much just go up.


So, in short, I'm much more into bouldering. I'm not sure if this is good or bad. I like top roping/leading as well, but currently most of my peers are much better vert climbers than I am, so it's hard to really be inspired. With bouldering I can at least keep up with them, and I progress at it much faster. You can just hang out with people and watch a boulder sequence and just hang out. When you're up top roping you're all alone. There's tons more reasons but I'm getting bored with this...