Pain Tolenrace Training

As a boulderer I am painfully aware of my place in the climbing community. I realize that I've become one of the many twenty-something drama queens and Prima donnas always complaining about one thing or another.

Living in Hueco for the season I have seen, heard, and used every complaint in the book. I struggle with the amount of griping I do at the boulders and I've decided to break the habit.

Now, I can't just go cold turkey and drop all my excuses so I've decided to curb the most common topic to bitch about: skin. I can't tell you how many times I hear climbers complain about how much their skin sucks at all hours of the day, myself included. These conversations typically leave me feeling a combination on envy, embarrassment, and irritation.

The result of the above conversations, coupled with hours of staring at my fingers has led me to slowly come to terms with my skin, chalking it up to pain tolerance training. After a full season of bouldering in Hueco my skin is beyond repair, and I'm okay with that.

-BLOCHEAD