status: professor of philosophy UNLV, beast-mode training fanatic, over-the-hill honemaster
I started hearing Bill Ramsey's name on my first trip to the Red River Gorge. Do the routes 'Transworld Depravity', 'Omaha Beach', 'The Return of Darth Moll' or 'Golden Boy' ring a bell? Unquestionably some of the Red's most classic routes (and that's saying something), these are all thanks to Ramsey. These days his contributions mostly come in the form of his teaching, another one of his passions, and one that he happily sets aside a few days a week for.
Bill is not afraid to speak his mind, but despite his no-bullshit attitude he remains a kind and refreshing friend to many. He out-trains most avid climbers half his age-- and it shows-- still putting down 5.14 from over-the-hill. He knows a thing or two about climbing and I always find our conversations fascinating. Bill's philosophical mind regularly carries over into our discussions about climbing, life, and otherwise.
How long have you been climbing? How and where were you introduced to the pursuit?
I started in 1976, so I’ve been climbing for about 36 years. I did my first climb with my Dad at Smith, who also was an early pioneer there. Then, I started climbing at Smith with my best friend in high school, Alan Watts who later helped invent sport climbing as we know it today. I focused on academics for the latter part of the 80s, but got back into it in the mid-90s.
You're openly passionate about both your work, as well as your life as an avid climber. How have these two pursuits complimented each other? (Or have they?)
They complement one another nicely. First, the process of working on a philosophy problem is similar to working on a boulder problem or route. You try different things to see what works, you think about it at odd times, you try to break a difficult section into more manageable sub-sections, and so on. It is no accident that a lot of climbers tend to be analytic thinkers – engineers, mathematicians, physicists and such. People who like solving intellectual problems. Second, I find it hard to do either one exclusively. When I am just climbing, like on a trip, I often get really bored. Similarly, when I’m focused just on academics I really miss getting outside and doing something physical. I think trying to be an academic and an athlete provides a pretty good balance in life.
You're in your early 50's and you're still crushing. What advice would you give to climbers in my generation who are psyched to climb for another 20, 30 years?
Besides all the usual advice about diet, stretching, warming up properly and so on, here is something young people always need to learn: you need to know when to let go. Trying hard is important, of course, but you also need to be aware of when things don’t feel right and hanging on isn’t worth it. At the same time, don’t over-respect minor injuries – low-level aches and strains are just part of being a serious athlete. And don’t be afraid to periodically take significant amounts of time off. You can’t go hard all the time and last for decades. Sometimes climbers are forced to take months off because of an injury, and then they come back stronger than ever. That’s not because the injury made them stronger, it’s because they needed the break more than they realized. And perhaps most important, learn how to get gratification from other aspects of climbing besides getting up a hard route.
There are quite a few Ramsey routes peppered across the country-- do any of your first ascents stand out to you as favorites?
Historically, being involved in the first free ascent of Monkey Face in 1979 was significant not just because it is such a classic formation but also because it helped set the stage for the sport climbing revolution to come. But I also like my contributions in the Madness cave at the Red, like Omaha Beach and Transworld Depravity. Those routes turned out to be so classic; it is extremely gratifying to read online comments from great climbers from around the world who have really enjoyed them.
A lot has changed in climbing in the past few decades. What's the future of climbing in your opinion? How do you see the sport changing and growing over the next decade?
Climbers are going to continue to evolve when it comes to training, especially as they do more training at an earlier age. But I think there will eventually, down the road, be some leveling off of bouldering grades due to human physiology, so the main progress will be acquiring the ability to do multiple hard boulder problems on a route. With regard to that, I think someone will come along who really wants to be a game-changer, who really pushes the standards. Think of Wolfgang Gullich – he wasn’t content to be the top climber in the world; he wanted to do something 2 letter grades beyond, something that 20 years later is still one of the hardest routes in the world. He altered our conception of strength, training and commitment to do that. Right now it seems relatively few top climbers fully commit themselves to find their limit – their hardest climbs only involve a few days of effort. Sharma is an obvious exception. But imagine Ondra, or someone at that level, spending 6 or 7 months on a single project for which he or she spent a year of specific training. I predict that’s how the next progression will happen.
More generally, I think the sport will continue to grow, and more climbers will be able to make money doing it. But I also hope it retains its status as something outside of the mainstream. Climbers have never been cool in the “X-Game sense”, and I don’t think they should try to be. We are more like smart dorks who found a sport that works for them.
I often think about the difference between being a 'good' climber and/or being a 'strong' climber-- developing technique, your mental approach and your understanding of the rock vs. developing pure strength. Do you have any thoughts about these two different skill sets and how you have improved (or not) in each realm over the course of your life as a climber?
I remember discussing this once with someone who noted that it is easy to display good technique when you are really, really strong. Relatively speaking, I’m not that strong and my technique is nothing special, even though I’ve managed to improve both with time. I’m better at finding efficient sequences that work for me and I’m pretty damn tenacious. It’s remarkable how much you can get you up with just those traits.
February 2012
