50 Climbing New Year’s Resolutions that Do Not Suck and That You Can Actually Keep

Welcome to the New Year! Anyone else having trouble typing 2022 on the keyboard? Too many two’s. It really throws me off. 

Anyway, with the New Year comes the inevitable blog posts and encouragement to pick a New Year’s Resolution! How will you decide? From sending 5.13, to quitting smoking, to finally sticking to a training regimen, it is unlikely any of us will do any of these things. So, instead I have made a list of things that you can definitely do in 2022. Pick one, pick 22, hell, pick the whole dang list. It’s very likely that you can do all of these.

That way, you can tell your friends and family that you are sticking to your New Year’s Resolutions every time you go out rock climbing, and they might stop asking “When will you get a job?”. It’s a win win!

Happy New Year everyone, may this year be significantly better than the last two years!  

1. Resole your climbing shoes. It’s time. 
2. Do a single pull up. 
3. Make it to the chains, slap them, and then take the whipper of your life. 
4. Keep your hand on the brake strand. 
5. Tell your belayer to “Watch this!” instead of “Watch me!” for more fun at the crag
6. Ask someone “Is he friendly?” from 30 feet away while pointing at their off-leash dog
7. Enthusiastically assure someone from 30 feet away that he is indeed “friendly” while pointing at your off-leash dog.
8. Buy a leash for your crag dog. 
9. Use it liberally. 
10. Yell loudly, “Go back to Colorado!” at a passing Subaru with Colorado plates. That’ll teach em.
11. Do two pull ups in a row.
12. Identify a rad project for 2022.
13. Send your project. 
14. Send your friend’s project. 
15. Send your ex boyfriend’s project. 
16. Send your future boyfriend’s project. 
17. Turn your climbing rope into a neat floor mat. Recycling !!
18. Become a member of the Access Fund
19. Become a member of the American Alpine Club
20. Google “reparations” 
21. Donate some money to the AMGA BiPOC Scholarship Fund
22. Donate some money to Cruxing in Color
23. Add The Rock Warrior’s Way to your amazon shopping cart. 
24. Keep looking at The Rock Warrior’s Way in your amazon shopping cart. 
25. Wait a few more weeks before buying The Rock Warrior’s Way
26. Tell someone “Just go up.” when they ask for beta mid-route. Hilarious. 
27. Decide to climb something out of your comfort zone, like an offwidth. 
28. Immediately regret climbing something out of your comfort zone.
29. Pick up someones trad gear at the crag and repeatedly pull the trigger wires while saying, “Oh this needs some cam lube” 
30. Buy some cam lube 
31. Boil, dry, and lube up your cams
32. Get your old cams reslung
33. Remark your gear, climbing gear maintenance is important!
34. Take some practice falls. 
35. Feel great about taking practice falls
36. Tell yourself you “definitely need to do this more” and swear to take a practice fall every time you climb. 
37. Watch someone else take practice falls. 
38. Tell yourself you’ll definitely take some practice falls next time. 
39. Don’t take any more practice falls.
40. Finally buy The Rock Warrior’s Way
41. Do three pull ups in a row. Look at you!
42. Think about doing your Physical Therapy. 
43. Really really think about doing your physical therapy. 
44. Start reading The Rock Warrior’s Way instead. 
45. Identify 5 new projects at your local crag, train rigorously, keep a climbing journal, and create a meaningful partnership with a friend who is excited to see you succeed. 
46. Be happy that you’re trying your best, even when you fail. 
47. Do four pull ups in a row. 
48. Identify your weaknesses through your climbing journal, and be honest with yourself about why sending is important to you.
49. Confront the reality of your sport. Acknowledge that while climbing is a recreational activity, it has a deeper meaning than simply something to do after work and on the weekends. The pursuit of challenges that are mentally, emotionally, and physically demanding form you into not only a stronger climber, but a human being who has accessed greater depths within themselves. What you awaken in your most terrified, most fatigued, and most exhausted states allows you to see what you are truly made of. The metal of your soul is forged through trial and error, and every time you fail, you bring yourself closer to the success of not only sending, but the true knowledge of what you are capable of. To know one’s self is the greatest achievement of a person’s life. Clipping the chains, or sending your current project, is not just about moving your physical body along a rock face, but it is about the journey your soul is on to reach its full potential. Who will you be in the darkness? When time takes its cruel toll on all that you love, what will be left except your own assuredness in who you are? As you look back on your life, take comfort that there was meaning in the meaningless. Clipping the chains. Being the strongest climber at the crag. Sending your project. None of that ever mattered. What mattered was that you tried to overcome the limits of your frail human form, and that you succeeded. When it is all behind you and you are lying sick in bed, watching the aching passages of time spin slowly overhead like so many stars in the night. Will you know who you are? 
50. Do five pull ups in a row. 

Happy New Year! 

See you out at the crag. 

Feature Photo Credit: Kaya Lindsay

About the Gear Tester

Outdoor Prolink Pro

Kaya Lindsay

Kaya Lindsay is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker with a passion for rock climbing and the outdoors.

In 2016 she converted a Sprinter Van into a tiny home and has been traveling around the US & Canada to pursue her passion for rock climbing. Since hitting the road she has begun a career in filmmaking and is currently working on her One Chick Travels series, highlighting solo female travelers who live and work to pursue an adventurous lifestyle. Her films have been highlighted by major brands such as Backcountry and Outside TV. To fulfill her passion for writing, she chronicles her many adventures in her blog. Professionally, she writes for the adventure sports company Outdoor Prolink and The Climbing Zine. Kaya hopes to spend many more years in her tiny home on wheels, Lyra, and is currently living in Moab Utah.

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