Luck of The Setter
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
By Kyle Mrohs
In setting, we are in the business of control. We force moves, sequences, and sometimes things people don’t want to do. But we provide a setting where these combinations are a must if a climber wants to get to the top.
So maybe it’s a little dangerous to say…I don’t know what I’m doing. Sometimes I just ‘DO’ and whatever comes out gets a little polishing, and then its presented to the public. Tada!?
Now, to be humble, usually the premiere of a problem is greeted by fanfare and universal applaud. But how much of that success am I responsible for? Was it I, or forces beyond MY control? The question of debate is, am I exercising skill, or am I reaping the benefits of luck?
Well, as ‘LUCK’ would have it (these puns are going to get old), just before really delving into the substance of luck, fortune, and the etymology of ‘Serendipitous’, an incident occurred. I heard Aesop always used real life incidents to illuminate truths, so I’ll follow his lead.
My assignment was simple: To create a V4 on the front side of the gyms top-out boulder. I grabbed some aesthetically pleasing holds and went to business. In a little while I had created a sequence of some quality.
It featured some tension and some pinching. The key feature was a sequence of hand position flipping, the element of cool that I always strive for, whether it be a small twist or a dimensional bending sequence.
A member approached, or rather I grabbed him, and asked him to try it out, no beta provided. Now, he had mentioned he felt very weak and out of shape. But I sugar talked him into trying, assuring him he was the strongest, most handsomest man in the whole world. Cheeks red, he gave it a try.
These are the circumstances, and this is what happened. Due to his route reading skills (at whatever level), and his tension (somewhat lacking at a certain moment), he made a move I had intended, but instead of moving through it the way I had conceived, he swung around like a gibbon on monkey bars.
He floated under his arm, winding around till he was facing away from the wall, flipped around, straight up “Mission-Impossible” style. His other hand latched the next hold, perfectly situated, and he hung there. He couldn’t move pass that position, and so dropped off, asking, “Was that right?”. No, but it was AWESOME!
