MOTIVATION BEHIND THE ERSNA PHOTO GUIDE PROJECT

 

MY NAME IS MATTHEW TWYMAN. I STARTED CLIMBING AROUND THE AGE OF 9 AND HAVE BEEN CLIMBING EVER SINCE, FOR ABOUT 17 YEARS NOW. WHY I'M NOT CRANKING V16 OR 5.15 USED TO BE A SOURCE OF FRUSTRATION AND CONFUSION TO ME, BUT I REALIZED SOMETIME DURING COLLEGE THE REASON. CLIMBING DOES NOT TAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF MY TIME IN LIFE, ALTHOUGH IT IS ONE OF THE MAJOR THEMES. IF I WERE PAID TO CLIMB AND COULD DEVOTE AS MUCH TIME AS NEEDED AND TRAVEL THE WORLD, I COULD BE CLIMBING 5.14 AND POSSIBLY V12, BUT THAT IS NOT MY LIFE. I HAVE A 9-5 DESK JOB THAT, WHILE RATHER FLEXIBLE, IS NONETHELESS JUST A JOB, BUT THAT AFFORDS ME MY HEALTH, WHAT TIME I CAN PULL TOGETHER, AND THE $$$ TO DO WHAT I WISH.

CLIMBING IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF WHAT DEFINES ME. I'VE COME TO FIND THAT DEFINITION TO BE IN CONSTANT FLUX WITHIN ME THOUGH. I GO THROUGH WAVES OF INTEREST, COMFORTABILITY, PSYCH & LOVE OF THE SPORT. THE KNOWLEDGE THAT I WILL ALWAYS BE CLIMBING NEVER SUBSIDES THOUGH.

 

THE FIRST SEVERAL TIMES I WENT OUT TO EROCK WAS WITH FRIENDS WHO KNEW THE PARK VERY WELL AND I ENDED UP BEING MORE OF A CLIENT ON A GUIDED TOUR THAN AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT HELPING TO POINT OUT WHERE TO GO NEXT. I NEVER LOOKED AT ANY OF THE GUIDE BOOKS AS I FOUND THEM DIFFICULT TO USE IF YOU WEREN'T GOING TO BE THERE FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND COULD INVEST THE TIME TO POUR OVER EVERYTHING OF INTEREST AND THEN CHOOSE SPECIFIC PLACES OR PROBLEMS TO DIRECT YOURSELF TO. GUIDE BOOKS CAME TO BE MORE LIKE LITERATURE TO ME THAN USEFUL TOOLS. PLUS, THE PICTURES WERE USUALLY BLACK AND WHITE, TAKEN FROM ONLY ONE ANGLE AND AN AGGRAVATINGLY INCOMPLETE COLLECTION OF THE WHOLE PARK.

THE NUMBER OF TRIPS I MADE OUT TO THE PARK WERE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. THE PROBLEMS I WAS TOLD TO BE STELLAR OR CLASSIC, I FOUND CRUMBLY, SCARY OR JUST PLAIN DOLE. THE LANDINGS WERE TYPICALLY COMPLICATED AND THE APPROACHES COULD BE EXHAUSTING, BURLY AND ESPECIALLY PAINFUL. SANDY CREEK WAS, WELL, ALWAYS SANDY, AND A COOLING SHELTER OR REFRESHING CREEK WAS NON-EXISTENT. I HATED THE PLACE AND ALWAYS RETURNED HOME HURTING AND VOWING NEVER TO RETURN.

THEN CAME THE 2005 GRANITE GRIPPER. CONRAD SCHAEFER SUGGESTED I COME OUT AND COMPETE WITH HIM. HAVING BURNED OUT ON THE GYM AND LIMESTONE (THUS ALL OF CENTRAL TEXAS STONE) I AGREED. MY ASS WAS KICKED. I COMPLETED ONLY 4 OF THE REQUIRED 5 BEST ROUTES. MY HIGHEST RATED PROBLEM A MERE V4. HOWEVER, I HAD A GREAT TIME AND SOMETHING WAS SPARKED IN ME THAT MADE ME WANT TO RETURN.

CONRAD AND I STARTED TO MAKE A ROUTINE OF GOING OUT TO EROCK AND WE CHOSE TO FOCUS ON CREATING A CIRCUIT, MIMICKING THOSE FOUND IN FOUNTAINBLEAU, FRANCE. THE DAIRY FARM, ROMB SOCIAL CLUB, AND DING DONGS AREAS PROVIDED THE PERFECT SETTING, AND WITHIN SEVERAL TRIPS WE HAD COMPLETED A VERY NICE AND RELAXING CIRCUIT COMPRISING ROUGHLY 35 PROBLEMS. THE MAJORITY OF THE PROBLEMS BEING V0-V1, A HANDFUL OF V2-V3S AND THE HARDEST BEING A V6 AND A V5. EACH DAY WE'D WORK ON DIALING THESE PROBLEMS AND WOULD STUMBLE UPON MORE WONDERFUL AND UNTOUCHED LINES. AND EACH DAY I'D GO HOME FEELING FULLY STRETCHED OUT, SUPPLE AND RELAXED. CLIMBING HAD FINALLY BECOME MORE OF A THERAPY THAN A LIST OF PROJECTS AND I EMBRACED THIS WARMLY.

SINCE THEN, I HAVE HIKED OVER THE MAJORITY OF THE PARK, MOST OF THE TIME ALONE, CRAWLING THROUGH KNOOCKS AND CRANNIES, OVER AND UNDER BOULDERS, AND SUMMITTED THE SEVEN PEAKS IN A DAY (STILL ONE OF THE MOST ENJOYABLE DAYS I'VE HAD OUT THERE). EROCK HAS COME TO REPRESENT MANY NEW THINGS TO ME AND HAS OPENED MY EYES TO MANY NEW THINGS, NOT JUST IN CLIMBING, BUT IN MY LIFE TOO. THE ROCK, THE STYLE, THE HIKING, THE VIEWS, THE NATURE, THE SEASONAL CHANGES, THE HISTORY, THE SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE, THE CAMPING, AND THE FREEDOM ARE ALL UNIQUE TO TEXAS IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. TO ME, EROCK IS A REFRESHING CHANGE OF PACE FOR CENTRAL TEXAS CLIMBERS. THE MOVEMENTS OFTEN TEND TO STRETCH YOU OUT AND WARM YOU UP RATHER THAN TEAR YOU DOWN AND LEAVE YOU FEELING STIFF OR SOAR. YOU MOVE MORE SLOWLY OVER THE ROCK RELYING ON BALANCE AND DELICATE FOOTWORK RATHER THAN UPPER BODY STRENGTH. I COULD KEEP LISTING MANY MORE COMPLIMENTS, BUT I NEED TO MENTION THE MAIN THING THAT OPENED MY EYES AND HEART TO THE PLACE.

I LOVE HAVING THE ABILITY TO WANDER UP TO A ROCK OR BOULDER AND FEEL, WHETHER IT IS UNTRUE OR NOT, THAT I'M THE FIRST PERSON TO SEE THE POTENTIAL IN IT. EROCK HAS MAINTAINED AN AIR OF EXPLORATION THAT ANYONE IS ABLE TO STEP IN TO. ALL THE SPORT LINES HAVE NOT BE BOLTED AND ALL THE BOULDER PROBLEMS HAVE NOT BEEN SENT. HOWEVER, EVEN IF EVERYTHING HAD BEEN CLIMBED, THERE IS NO LASTING TRACE OF IT. CHALKED UP BOULDER PROBLEMS GET ERASED WITH THE RAIN, SPORT ROUTES MAY HAVE BEEN TOPROPED OR LEAD CLEANLY. IF NO CLIMBER VISITED THE PLACE FOR MANY YEARS AND THEN A NEW GROUP CAME TO TOWN, THEY WOULD NEVER KNOW WHAT HAD AND HAD NOT BEEN DONE. IN THAT RIGHT, THEY HAVE THE CAPACITY TO FEEL THE EXCITEMENT OF DISCOVERY, OF GETTING A FIRST ASCENT, OF BRUSHING AND POFFING THE HOLDS TO REVEAL A CLIMBER'S VERSION OF A PAINTING, ONE COMPOSED OF ROCK AND CHALK. I EXPERIENCED THIS FEELING, ONLY TO BE STIMMIED BRIEFLY BY A GUIDE BOOK THAT TOLD ME THE UNSENT 5.13 I HAD ENVISIONED WAS DUBBED A MERE 5.11 AND HAD A NAME I LOATHED. WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT THE AUTHOR HAD MADE THIS UP, MY PSYCH SKYROCKETED. I REALIZED THAT IN MY CASE, BRIEF IGNORANCE WAS BLISS.

 

 

AND SO, IT IS IN THE SPIRIT OF BLISSFUL IGNORANCE THAT I HAVE CREATED THIS GUIDE. I ENVISION A PERSON WHO FEELS LIKE EVERYWHERE THEY GO, EVERYTHING HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE, THE ROCK HAS BEEN TAPPED AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT FOR THEM TO FIND ON THEIR OWN. THIS GUIDE OFFERS THE ABILITY TO SEE THE PURELY AESTHETICS. ONE CAN VISIT THE PARK DIGITALLY, FASTER AND MORE DETAILED THAN WITH ANY PRIOR PRINTED GUIDE BOOK. AND INSTEAD OF BEING BOGGED DOWN BY INDICES AND TRYING TO FIND THE PERFECT PROBLEM FOR YOUR QUICK TRIP TO THE PARK, YOU CAN INSTEAD FOCUS ON WHAT LOOKS FUN, SAFE, OR BEAUTIFUL. IF YOU SHOULD CARE TO KNOW PROBLEMS OR FIND SPECIFIC NAMES OR GRADES, YOU MAY DO SO JUST AS EASILY, BUT YOU ARE AT LEAST OFFERED THE ABILITY TO EXPLORE IN A UNIQUE AND PROTECTED WAY. THIS METHOD NOT ONLY PEAKED MY MOTIVATION FOR CLIMBING AT EROCK, IT COMPLETELY LEAD ME DOWN A NEW PATH IN MY LIFE AND RE-ENERGIZED MY SPIRIT. MY HOPE IS THAT ALL USERS OF THIS SITE MAY FIND WHAT THEY WISH, BE IT A SPECIFIC PROBLEM, AN EASY TRAIL TO A FAMED PROBLEM OR SIMPLY THE BEAUTY OF PARK AND ITS ENCHANTED ROCKS. PLEASE ENJOY.