4.04 Obstacles

Mt. Pisgah

While living the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, a wilderness preserve in the Pisgah National Forest, I and my team of hikers came to Mount Pisgah for rock climbing. The mountain towers 5,000 feet over the cloud forest, and isn't in the least bit welcoming to newcomers. This area of the park is made up of the Appalachian Mountains, infamous for afternoon storms in the summer time. It's going on 1:00 and clouds are looming over the next ridge. Some of us free climbed, others were on belay. Either way, we needed to tackle this mountain fast or we were going to be stuck on the summit during a thunderstorm. That's not a good place to be, unless you wish to shake hands with a thunderbolt.

Climbing generally encompasses use of the hands and feet to grapple the way up a craggy mountain face, but novel climbers rarely think to use their body weight as an advantage. I witnessed this problem with my fellow climbers, as well as myself when I first started climbing. Booties are worn with special soles that help climbers gain traction on smooth vertical rock. It's easy to try and walk up a mountain on your toes, but that won't keep you from sliding at all. Functional fixedness keeps people from leaning into the rock to gain the best traction; they can't see other functions of the shoes beyond their typical purpose as simply footwear. Sometimes overconfidence can cause climbers to exert themselves attempting to scale a face without the proper strategy. Most often they wear out before getting too high and decide to come down and try again after a rest or water break. Luckily this time allows a chance for fixation to pass. The climbers were unable to see the problem from a fresh perspective- they just kept trying to toe it up the mountain, since they thought they were right and knew how to walk on rock. They may have had success walking up something, such as a ladder, before, so fixation is especially strong. However, faces like Mt. Pisgah require a different technique. They try again after an experienced climber says to "Hug the rock!" Even then, the novice is hesitant; he still thinks he can climb without looking like a starfish, a term known as belief perseverance. Eventually pride gives way when he thinks about what "hugging the rock" will actually do- it will keep more weight centered on the feet, taking best advantage of the traction booties and providing excellent balance. Amazingly, the novice gains traction immediately and stops slipping and grabbing for the rope. He relaxes and focus on handholds instead of footholds, since the shoes allow him to hold on almost anywhere. In no time at all, he's reached the summit with the rest of us in time to eat lunch, take in the views, and explore the peak before the thunderstorms signal us to head back down.