The Hard Truth: Simple Ways to Become a Better Climber
We all want to get better at climbing. Maybe not for the same reasons, whether as a hobby with friends, a weekend warrior trying to keep their fitness, or a serious competitor, but it’s fun to be good at the thing we enjoy doing. But are you making the best use of your time and effort? Chances are, most of us aren’t, not without a coach to keep you focused on the goals at hand. Kris Hampton’s book is a pocket coach, motivational speaker, and fortune teller all at once.
Summary
The book is actually collection of 26 short essays and blog posts from The Power Company owner and operator Kris Hampton with illustrations for each provided by Semi-rad creator Brendan Leonard, princes of comedy and call-outs in the climbing community. Why is it called The Hard Truth? Because chances are many readers are going to feel attacked for how they have pursued getting better at climbing, and no one is safe. Boulderer? 5 reasons you suck. Sport climber? Five reasons you suck too. Think you’re doing good work by taking a core class at the gym? Ha! F*ck you, loser! But it’s not all gloom and doom for how you are bound to fail, there are some good pick-me-ups sprinkled throughout. Success is built on a pyramid of failure, so long as you can learn from it. We learn the nuances of punting and whether or not what we did or did not do actually counts. And of course, there is the obligatory point, counter-point of grades, whether soft or sandbagged, and how they help us grow. There’s something in here for everyone, or at least 26 someones.
Conclusion
At a scant 95 pages including the Forward and Afterward, there is little excuse not to have at least finished the book once it’s in your hands. And given that each article is only 2 to 4 pages long and has a pretty illustration to kick it off, so just like the book says, read it already. Given that it is a collection of blog posts over a period of time, there are occasions where it starts to get repetitive if you read them back to back, so take your time and chew on each one before on to the next. As a former coach and personal trainer, I enjoyed the brutal honesty because sometimes it is exactly what a client needs to hear, though we always want to address it professionally, to get them on the right track. But perhaps it is because of my background that articles about ways our training gets derailed or the mistakes most people often make while “training” didn’t hit as hard as it did some people in this office (*cough* Justin *cough*). Could I improve, though? Certainly, but the pill was much easier to swallow. The keystone article, and reason for the banana on the cover, is the longest piece in the collection called “Don’t Squash the Banana.” It is about commitment and how actually going for it will make all the difference when it comes to success of failure. If you try to slowly ease into snapping a banana in half, it will end up squashed, but if you really go for it with 100% effort, it will actually snap cleanly in half. Metaphors! But I guess the joke’s on me, because those times where I have pushed, really committed to a move, is when I have been the one to snap instead. It’s how I blew up my hand in 2008, tore my labrum in 2015, tore my LCL and rolled my hamstring tendon in 2017, and how I broke my ankle in 2018. So I have my own Hard Truth(s) to deal with, like maybe I not a banana snapper, but perhaps the advice from the other 25 articles will get me there.
Verdit: Read it!
Where to Get It: Normally this is where we would post an Amazon link, but let’s put the cash directly in the hands of the author HERE
Tylor Streett, can’t snap a banana (or an apple), but he can call you out on your bullsh*t equally as well as Kris while still being in your corner.