Liam: Why do you climb?
Zorah: I climb because from the moment I tried it at 58 years old, I just loved it.
L: What do you think it did to engage you so much?
Z: Well I was gymnast when I was younger, and then I was injured, in so many ways, and I though I could never do something physically exiting again. And then I discovered with training and strengthening and rehab I could actually climb, which felt like a miracle.
L: Why are you here? In the gym, and in general?
Z: I’m here at the gym in part because climbing is addictive, we all know that. But I’m still here present trying to do it because it’s such a phenomenal growth opportunity. To learn to be still, to be focused, to be brave but not stupid, to be social and to be totally there for your partners. And pushing yourself to the limit. How often does an old person get to push themselves to the physical limit? Almost never. And now I’m still here climbing. Though I’m trying not to be an adrenalin junkie, because I’m trying to learn flow. To give everything but also flow, so that it’s like a dance, and I’m not forcing it anymore. Though I still train hard, I do my best climbs when I forget about the training and just flow.
Life works that way too, so its great training for life.
And then ultimately it’s the people; some of my closest friends now are my climbing partners. The trust we have in each other and the exposure to each other I find very beautiful.
L: Because when your with someone in a genuinely dangerous situation you realy have to trust them.
Z: You have to trust them! Then when you take it outside, it’s the whole next level, then you are in nature with these people you love, doing something you love all day.
The people at Crag X too are amazing in the way that they supported me. The tribe of climbers, including these young guys supporting an older woman leaning to climb, I find very beautiful, and I’ve not experienced it in any other realm.
L What is your relationship with fear?
Z: Climbing is great courage training. It’s great resiliance training. Because you have to just hold your shit together. When I’m well trained though and I’m in flow, I don’t feel fear and I climb better.
L: Is fear something you have to suppress? What is your strategy in dealing with fear?
Z: It’s not that I get afraid, I just realize that I’m safer if I don’t give into the fear. If I think about the fear I’m more likely to fall. But the important moment is in advance of the climb, when you make sure you can commit to it and do it and that it is a wise choice to climb it. And if I’ve decided that it is a wise choice then I can manage it.
L: Whats your relationship like with falure and success?
Z: Thats an important one. There is a great book, ’The Rock Warriors Way,’ that really emphasizes that it is the process of learning that matters the most. And if I’ve worked on a climb and I didn’t send it, it still taught me something, then I say, “I learned something today” and so that was good.
L: Is there a place you have climbed that has captured your imagination?
Z: The multi-pitches on Salt Spring. I’ve done three of them, and they are amazing.
L: The rock is different out there.
Z: The rock is different, utterly amazing. Big wall feeling 1,800 ft up.
L: Right outa the ocean!
Z: You turn around and look, and holy Fu%$#k.
L: What has been your happiest moment climbing?
Z: Me and Chantell doing our first multi-pitch together, and me being the second for her, and utterly supporting another person doing something that they find really hard is just as joyous as doing it yourself.
Oh and I gotta go.
L: Perfect timing, thanks so much for that.