Climbing- hobby and job
Safety is something that
Nelson feels strongly about, and
his record proves it. To date,
none of Nelson’s pupils has ever
sustained a serious rock climb
ing related injury.
“Basically, in rock climbing
you can make it as safe or
dangerous as you want to. You
can’t equate danger and dif
ficulty. In all terms we stress
rope management. That is, how
do you safely extricate from a
by Thad Kreisher
Entertainment Editor
“Some people think...purists
ought to be climbing naked...
just him against the rock,”
commented mountaineering in
structor Gary Nelson on climb
ing ethics. When asked about
his personal feelings on this
topic, Nelson replied, “It’s cold
without your clothes on.”
Gary Nelson, in addition to
teaching mountaineering, also
teaches music. He is a man with
a great sense of humor and a
sense of adventure that far ex
ceeds that of the average
weekend warrior.
Rock climbing is both hobby
and profession to Nelson. It is a
hobby he has pursued for over
half a decade, and a skill he has
taught professionally for five
years.
Nelson first became in
terested in rock climbing in 1975
while in Europe. “A friend of
mine wanted to climb the Mat
terhorn.” he recalled. “I had
never given much thought to
climbing at all, but he was a
good friend and he wanted me
to go, so I said, ‘Sure, I’ll go.’
As it turned out, we were both
saved because the weather was
so crappy that we couldn’t do
'it.”
“I did a little reading and
talking to some people and
became fascinated by it. And
it’s become my hobby, and
now, profession.”
Nelson’s fascination with
rock climbing stems from the
fact that it is “a totally honest
sport.
“You’re not worried about
what the other guy does, and
you’re not worried about
politics, ...it’s just a problem
that you can solve on your
own.”
He is further intrigued by the
intellectual challenge presented
by rock climbing. Although
viewed by some as mainly a
physical sport, rock climbing
can offer much in the way of in
tellectual
stimulation,
somewhat in the same manner
as a game of chess. You look at
what you’ve got and plan your
moves and strategy in advance
hoping that you don’t run into
an insurmountable obstacle
somewhere along the line.
As Nelson put it, “You only
have a certain reservoir of
talent, whether that be physical
or mental...and you have to get
from point A to point B using
what you have. Sometimes you
can hone those skills down and
improve them, and sometimes
they’re just what God gave you.
If your reach is only so far, then
that’s what your reach is and
you have to come up with
another way to solve the pro
blem.”
“I had never given much
thought to climbing...”
Although many climbers cite
“the adrenaline rush” as one of
their main reasons for rock clim
bing, Gary Nelson seems to view
it more a precise art form rather
than as ¿'device used solely for
thrill seeking. “There are old
situation. What I’m trying to do
is stress principles so that people
can use a little common sense
and as the situation changes,
have enough knowledge to pick
the best system for the situa
tion.” Among his most
memorable climbs, Gary
remembers the time that he and
a friend took another friend
from Columbia up Devils
Tower.
“This gentleman didn’t speak
climbers and bold climbers, but
no old bold climbers. I’m starting
to border on the old.
“I don’t knowing put myself
in positions where I’m going to
be scared, although I end up
that way occasionally. More
often than I would like to ad
mit. The main thing is that it’s
fun, and it doesn’t really matter
why it attracts us as being fun as
long as it is fun and it can be
done safely, which it can be.”
Lyn Thompson photos
any English and I don’t speak
any Spanish. We wound up wat
ching the sunset from the top,
which meant we were going to
come down in the dark. There
was a big lightening storm going
on and it was interesting doin’ a
series of rapels from the top to
the bottom.”
It is said that if you make it
through the first two years as a
rock climber, chances are that
you will survive. Taking this in
to account, it is no surprise that
Nelson’s most frightening mo
ment came when he had only
been climbing six months.
“I wasn’t frightened & the
way down I found out it wasn’t
part of the rock, it was just a
boulder sitting there, and so it
came down right behind me. We
both slid down this gully.
’’Fortunately, the gully drop
ped off, I dropped off and the
rock slid just over my head. I
fell about another ten feet and
landed on a pedestal with a cab
bage patch growing around on
top of it. I bounced off of that
and fell another ten or fifteen
feet and landed on my feet.
Right beside me was this rock.”
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