Selfish or Selfless: Making the Choice

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity of taking out a Co-Ed Venture Crew associated with the Boys Scouts of America. I was one of four people guiding the group to a safe fun filled Saturday of climbing at Crowders Mountain State Park in North Carolina.

Venture Crew 312 

This was what I considered my Selfless day of climbing. I belayed most of the day but also had the opportunity to show an eager lad a bit of Trad climbing as he followed and cleaned my lead on Caterpillar (5.7). I am always happy to show aspiring climbers a thing or two about one of my passions in life.

Caterpillar (5.7)

When it was all said and done I had met a fella from Austin, Texas that was climbing around the North East while working on the road. I met a couple from Atlanta, Georgia that were climbing with their six year old son and were going to spend another day at Crowders on Sunday. Seeing as I was climbing on Sunday with my family (Nicole and Ava) I decided to invite my new found friends and show them some of the lesser known areas at Crowders.

Venture Crew 312 

I also had plans to give a solid go on my project at RED WALL, Fashion(5.12b). I figured I could put up some ropes and let them all get worn out before I got to work.  It seems to me that when I plan on doing something, I almost always have to make last minute improvisations.

Ava Crushing!

As we hiked up the front side of Crowders by the Resurgence Walls I had to take note of how tired everyone was becoming. I vetoed my original plan to hike all the way to RED WALL and took a detour to TRUNDLASAURAUS WALL. Their are a hand full of easy climbs if you have the natural anchor know how.

Nicole and Ava

I was suppose to have my Selfish day on Sunday and work on my project and tick some other routes on my ticklist but instead I made the choice, to be selfless instead of selfish. I figured I usually make it out to Crowders every weekend and I wanted to show my new found out-of-town friends a good time. Since the other areas are fairly easy to find I wanted to take them somewhere they would have a hard time finding on their own.

I recently got a message from a friend that proved to me that what I do is worth not be selfish.

Bjarni Magnusson

Hey man, 

Couldn't make it to last trip unfortunately because I have moved to San Diego, CA. I want to thank you for inviting me on all these climbing trips and showing me the ropes (pun intended). I really appreciate it man. The world would definitely  be a better place if there were more people like you who are willing to show new people how to climb and don't just stick with their group. If you are ever interested in crushing some rocks out in southern CA then hit me up! You'll have a couch to crash on.



Bjarni Magnusson


When I moved to Columbia, South Carolina and had no one to take me out anymore I made the choice to buy gear. I taught myself, with the help of books and advice from others, to lead climb, set up Top-Ropes, Rappel, set-up natural anchors and to do all the things that I had taken advantage of in Idaho. I realized that "You don't know what you have until it's gone."

Belayed Gratification and Palmetto Pebble Wrestlers

Don't get me wrong, there were people at Stronghold Athletic Club that I kept bugging about their next trip  being scheduled but to this day they are still very selective of who they invite.  Some people just don't want to share the experience of ROCKING out with others.

I am quite the opposite. I started a Columbia Outdoor Rock Climbing Club by the name of "Belayed Gratification and Palmetto Pebble Wrestlers" in order to share my climbing experiences with others. Passing on my passion of climbing to others that are eager to learn is very gratifying to me. I love to see people's 'light bulbs' turn on when they climb and receive feedback.

One Rope, Two Routes.

I balance climbing hard and guiding 'newbies' so that I can have the best of both worlds. I figure that the more people I teach, the more climbing partners I have to choose from when I need someone to play with on the mountains. Also, I know what it is like to be the one wanting to learn with no one willing to take the time to teach me.

I also love the challenge of taking on a big group of people of all different levels and trying to get them all worn out by the end of our climbing session. I've been on outdoor trips where you do more waiting than climbing and that can definitely be a put off to climbing with parties of ten and up. I try to have knowledge of big group areas so that I can put multiple ropes up on Top Rope or up to two routes per rope.  This way you have the 'Indoor Gym' feel to climbing outside.

Some disagree with this method because you take up most of a climbing area, but I make sure to inform people wanting to get on the routes with our ropes that we are willing to share.

Leading Fashion (5.12b)

The next time you see someone in the gym that is an eager beginner and wants to learn, take the time to 'pay it forward' and ask them to join you on your next climbing excursion. You never know what new friends you will make. Think back to when you first started climbing and wanted to 'learn the ropes'.

It's our responsibility as advanced climbers to give back to the sport by teaching less knowledgeable climbers how to safely have an awesome time climbing outside. I know from experience that there are a lot of wrong ways of doing things but if you don't stop and take the time to offer guidance then things won't change.

Stoked after the send.

Not every adventure needs to be all about sending the hardest. If you take the time to teach, help a someone in need of assistance, or take a day off of crushing in order to give someone else a day of crushing at their level then I can assure you that you will feel just as good as sending that elusive Project.


Who knows, maybe you'll get as lucky as I did last Sunday and get the opportunity to give others a day of awesome climbing AND also send your Project. On a side note, as I was mid-crux of Fashion (5.12b) I was reminded to have a little fun. I don't know if you have ever watch Yo Gabba Gabba! but my daughter was ready to go so Nicole was distracting her with Netflix on the phone. This is what I got to enjoy as I crushed.

Until next CLIMB!