The Art of Developing - Miguel Navarro
That's how it all started, fixing landings for some boulders in my home region, and that's how I continue 26 years later, searching and making several lines for climbing per year.
During all these years I had moments of more climbing than searching, or more about consuming climbing than creating climbing, but the eagerness and uncertainty of “Why not try climb this line?” and about trying something that few others find interesting at first…
That feeling was always there.
Since I moved to the Sierra de Albarracin, I felt like that part of me has blossomed by leaps and bounds, here is the place where I learned most about climbing.
Maybe because of the mass of people among the classics, or because I climbed those same boulders so many many times... hey! It's necessary to renew myself and try to keep the motivation high.
This region has many options, from caves for rope climbing to tons of sandstone split around several hills.
It is just about the desire of finding something that pushes you in a different way and searching for those lines that you fall in love with the first time you lay eyes on them!
It's a totally different game, imagining the line even before removing the moss, before any hold is stained with chalk, with the uncertainty of not knowing for sure if you will be able to climb or not, but you need to check it, together with that overwhelming desire to discover what that piece of rock hides for you...
Each brushing is a surprise, normally the ones that seem easy to you at first, tend to be the hardest, nothing fits into the mathematics we are now used to, with betas and numbers...
The holds appear, the rocks are capricious and you have to trust the "nature setter" who most turns out to be the best ally!
It becomes more easy if you see someone doing something.
This part of climbing it's very healthy, just for the brain, not for your back or shoulders, but brings you to the raw creativity, no matter the grade. It is just about if I could climb it or not, there is no YouTube video beta, believing in your beta helps a lot to recognize yourself...
But first , I am pretty sure, every "developer" is playing with many more betas before using the first one to send! This always happens, you see possibilities everywhere , but only one combination is the best and I don't know why, but normally it is the first sequence you were trying ! With some microbetas changes yes..
That's why I like tall boulders, more time climbing, more time thinking, your brain working every second and the timing of creativity increases along the day!