Don't Squash The Banana: Commitment

In the spring of 2011, while queued up beneath a 13d called "Ultraperm", I witnessed the very definition of commitment.  No, it wasn't someone skipping 2 bolts and risking a ground fall just to send.  That would be stupid.  Instead, it was an act so casual that it didn't catch the eye of any of the 16 other people waiting for their burn.  My friend (and now Power Company Climbing coach) Nate Drolet, in line just in front of me, asked his belayer if she wanted half of his banana.  Of course she did, who wouldn't?  Rather than peel it and break it off with his chalky, dirty fingers, or dig in his pack for a knife, Nate - wait for it - snapped the banana in half.  Clean break, right through the middle.  Like a ninja.

My first attempt at snapping a banana ended in, well, banana pudding.  It wasn't even a very ripe banana.  Problem was, I didn't commit.  I didn't go for it.  I backed off at the last second.  You can't half-ass it when you're banana snapping, or you end up with unappetizing mush.  No bueno.

You can plan every move you make.  You can train harder and longer than anyone else.  You might be the first person at the crag every day.  None of it matters if you don't commit.

It's not uncommon to see climbers squash the banana on a difficult onsight or redpoint attempt, and it's easy to spot.  The climber gets to the crux move, looks up, looks down, looks up again, sometimes shakes their head no, and they're off.  If your partner says, "Take!" in the middle of a redpoint attempt for no apparent reason, they might be a chronic banana squasher.  It happens everyday on tall boulder problems.  These are the lapses in commitment that are readily apparent.  This doesn't mean that they are easier to fix - just that you're more likely to get called out on them.  It's the harder to spot lapses that are the most dangerous, and these generally follow a never-ending path paved with excuses…

WANT MORE? READ THE REST IN: The Hard Truth: Simple Ways to Become a Better Climber