This week has been really crazy for us, otherwise I would have posted it sooner. We went to Seonunsan last weekend. It's probably the best place to do hard sport climbing in Korea and climbing legend Chris Sharma was there. I shook his hand and talked about climbing shoes for a bit. I have to say, I was a little intimidated which doesn't happen very easily. I like to think that everyone's equal on this planet. But one can't help feeling like certain people are larger than life and this man fit into that category for me.
He showed up under the radar and I didn't even know he was there until I looked over behind me on the opposite wall of where Rebs was climbing and saw a man climbing something that I would likely climb as a project, but he was doing it as a warmup. I noticed his hair was a medium brown instead of thick and black like a Korean's. Then I noticed the crowd of about 20-30 people standing around watching and video taping with professional cameras. I put the pieces together to realize that this WAS Chris. Wow, I thought. He's about 30 feet from me. "Hey Rebs, look behind you," I said. She turned from the warm-up climb she'd been focusing on to see him and then looked gleefully down at me and whispered, "Is that HIM?!?" She hurried and finished her climb and then we went over to sneak a peek, feeling very voyeurish. His climbing was very fluid and relaxed on what looked like really small holds and moderately overhung.
When he finished, people clapped even though it wasn't that difficult of a climb. Then his girlfriend/fellow sponsored climber Deila did it, also with ease. They clapped for her too, but not as many people watched. Then, for the next 15 minutes, people talked with them and took pictures. Koreans are very big on picture taking. After a bit, Chris went off to rest a bit. His girlfriend was sitting by herself, so I figured this was the opportunity to go introduce ourselves to Deila. I wanted to actually talk to them without feeling just like a fan getting an autograph. If any, this was the time.So while I introduced myself and got the story of their tour of Asia, Rebs stood about 15 feet away behind a tree, straining to hear our conversation. Deila kind of had her back turned so she couldn't see Rebs, but she was in full view of me. So finally, I said loudly, "That's my wife over there, Rebs. Rebs come meet Deila." She sheepishly obeyed and we had a good conversation, but I still laugh about how giddy she was around this girl we'd never even seen before.
Later in the day, I tried to joke with Chris to tell him he was next as we watched a really strong 14-year-old attempt this 5.13+ (read: really hard and completely beyond my ability). He was like, "Uh, that's okay." I couldn't tell if he didn't get that I was joking, or if he was like who is this weird guy that's trying to be my buddy, or like I've never heard that one before. So I slowly backed away, caught speechless by his response.
But eventually, another guy I'd been talking to started a conversation with him again and I was able to join in. Deila, whom we'd given an apple for her upset stomach (all the new food), motioned toward me and said something in Spanish. So Chris struck up a conversation with me, which I thought was really cool. Okay, enough rambling about a conversation that doesn't really have a point.The point I think I want to make is that I don't really look up to Chris Sharma because of his ability or what he's accomplished, though he has done some amazing stuff that no one has repeated in the sport of climbing. I look up to him because of his attitude amidst all the fame and strength. I see those things as traps almost. The more powerful you are or the more influence you have, the more susceptible you are to the pride that goes with it. To me, Chris seemed more the opposite--humble. That, and the fact that he does what he loves in life as a profession. There are few people in this world who are able to do that.
