Why You Learn More if You’re Willing to Fail: A Rock Climbing Story
Hundreds, if not thousands, of stories, highlight why failure is essential to success. Even top climbers who have reached the pinnacle of their sport have learned to embrace failure as a crucial part of their journey to the top. These climbers have faced many challenges and setbacks, yet they persevered, understanding that failure is not the end but a stepping stone to more extraordinary achievements.
Not all of us aim to climb in World Cups or conquer 5.15+ or V10 routes. For many, the goals are different, perhaps more personal or modest. Does that mean our failures are insignificant or our stories are unworthy of sharing and celebrating? Some might say yes, dismissing the value of these personal journeys, but I strongly disagree.
I hope everyone realizes their stories are worthy of being told, no matter how big or small they may seem. I hope they believe their climbing journey is essential regardless of the end goal. Learning to fail offers everyone some of the best lessons in climbing and, more importantly, life itself.
My home climbing gym boasts an impressive lead wall feature known as the prow. This unique structure is bedridden with a series of angle changes, which cleverly create challenging slab sections and nearly horizontal overhangs. As someone who is passionate about sport climbing, I find the experience of attempting a prow climb to be both exhilarating and nerve-racking at the same time. Each attempt feels like a roll of the dice. Will I manage to master my nerves and keep them in check? Will I find the opportunity to rest and recover adequately? Will I be able to recall the most energy-efficient beta to conserve my strength?
Last year, the setters at my home gym decided to put up a challenging black 5.12- route in the prow. This route quickly gained a reputation among climbers, with some people calling it soft, humorously noting that the route’s name was “Denis Says it’s 5.10.” Despite the mixed opinions, I absolutely loved the route, especially the crimpy and technical opening sequence. The challenge of fighting through the pump to reach the anchor was exhilarating. However, my initial attempts were met with failure, as I fell on it during my first few tries. Finally, after much persistence, I managed to send it during the last weeks of its existence, just before the setters reset the wall. I was able to link all the moves together and clip the anchors without any falls or ‘takes,’ achieving a clean ascent. If I ended the story here, you’d never know whether it took me two weeks, months, sessions, or days to piece it all together. I could leave you all with the impression that I conquered my 5.12- project relatively quickly. But that wouldn’t help anyone understand the real journey. In truth, the climb was up for a total of seven months, and it took me a full six months of persistent failing before I finally sent it.
What happened during those six months of failing that enabled me to ultimately succeed? Why did I keep returning to climb after experiencing time and time again of nothing seemingly “clicking?” I knew deep down that I loved the movement on the climb and the feel of the holds beneath my fingers. It was a fun and engaging route. Each time I led in the gym, I gave it one or two tries, sometimes making progress, and other times forgetting all my beta, falling in sections I had previously cruised through with ease. In all those unsuccessful or “failed” attempts, I held onto the belief and intuition that I could indeed do the climb. After each session, I would remind myself that it wasn’t a matter of if but rather of when. In this regard, embracing failure teaches patience and builds mental fortitude. It is challenging to keep believing in yourself, your training, and your abilities when things don’t go well or work out in your favor. Conversely, it’s easy to do everything you wish on your first try: cruise through checkpoints and goals without adversity. Yet, you learn very little when you don’t have to push through the self-doubt, self-evaluate, and problem-solve your way to success.
Take my gym project story. If I had sent the 5.12- on the first go, I wouldn’t have come to the realization that my clipping abilities with my left hand were not up to par, that my finger strength wasn’t as great as I had initially thought, or that I could actually climb through a pump and make forward progress even when my mind threatened me with thoughts of self-doubt. I believe that an essential part of embracing failure is realizing what you can’t do or what is currently limiting you and then adding the word ‘yet’ to the end of the statement. Just because I couldn’t clip with my left hand efficiently, feel secure grabbing small crimps, or fight through the negative mental dialogue didn’t mean I could never do those things. It just meant that I couldn’t do them yet.
So, every time I found myself unable to successfully send the 5.12 climb, I would leave the gym with a determination to brainstorm and come up with new strategies to strengthen my weaknesses in my training regimen. I realized I needed stronger fingers to improve my grip and hold. Okay, I decided to incorporate pulls on a fingerboard into my routine to build finger strength. I also needed to learn how to manage my mindset when I was pumped and feeling the burn. Okay, I resolved to add circuits and endurance sessions into my training plan, forcing myself to sit with being uncomfortable and grow through the challenge. I needed to learn to clip more efficiently to save energy and time. When I lead, I will consciously assess my clipping stance before making each clip to ensure it's the most efficient position. Remember, it took me six long months to finally send that one climb. To overcome what was holding me back and causing those unsuccessful attempts, it took a great deal of patience and mental resilience. I had to show up to the gym session after session, consistently training and trying again.
During the months-long journey, I also made a concerted effort to immerse myself in all the other aspects of rock climbing. I surrounded myself with a loving and welcoming community of fellow climbers who shared my passion and enthusiasm. I actively sought out different projects to challenge myself, climbed outside to experience the thrill of nature, and entered local competitions to test my skills against others. Taking a step back after a perceived “failure” and looking at the bigger picture is vital in remembering that your failures don’t define you. It’s what you do in the face of failure that does. We all signed up to be climbers, fully knowing that we’ll fall on our butts more times than not. So, if you’re not failing sometimes, you’re missing out on 90% of the fun.
My story of enduring months of failure to achieve a moment of success is certainly not unique. I am just one of thousands of passionate rock climbers who climb because we absolutely love it and set ambitious goals because they genuinely make us happy. However, over time, I have come to realize that I can become a better rock climber if I truly embrace failure. It serves as an invaluable opportunity to self-reflect on my weaknesses and diligently work on them until they transform into my strengths. I have come to understand that failing has taught me patience, a virtue I’ve carried into other areas of my life, and that the more I allow myself permission to fail, the less uncomfortable it feels. What I have uncovered is not unique either; every rock climber and human being can learn to smile in the face of failure and grow into a better version of their climber and personal selves. So, next time you fear the fall, I challenge you to smile in the face of it and ride the wave of lessons it is waiting to teach you. Cheers to failing, learning, and growing - you’ve got this (with love and encouragement from one average climber to another.)
If you enjoyed reading this piece and found it to be helpful in any way, or if you have a personal story or experience that you'd like to share with us, please feel free to comment below. We’d absolutely love to hear from you and learn about your thoughts or experiences!
