The real rock star

I prefer to spend the majority of my life outside and in the great outdoors. It’s about interacting with nature and getting to know all the people along the way. — Chris Lindner

Being suspended about 50 feet in the air against a sheer limestone wall with your camera slung around your neck isn’t a very common occurrence. First of all, where in the Philippines are there limestone walls that big? Secondly, why bring my camera that high up especially since I am so obsessive and paranoid with the thing? Lastly, whether its 10, 50, or 100 feet in the air — just, why?

To answer those questions in that particular order, firstly, limestone walls that big can be found in the city of Toledo, in Cebu. These are magnificent rocks, well above 50 feet tall, smooth to the touch and, in that area, used mainly by rock climbing enthusiasts. This ties in with the second question, which was about the camera. I had it up there with me because I wanted to capture professional American rock climber Chris Lindner doing what he does best. Staying in the country for a couple of weeks, Chris wanted to see what the rock climbing scene in the Philippines was all about. And since he was been climbing since the tender age of three, he is definitely best qualified to answer the last question — the ever-perplexing “why?”

“Rock climbing is a unique, non-mainstream sport, and this attracts me to it,” Chris says. “I enjoy its non-competitive nature and see it as a battle between your body and Mother Nature.” Truly, this sport exemplifies man versus the environment, as one pushes the limits of the body to reach greater heights, literally. The rock always seems to have the advantage in this game, and climbers possibly use this to motivate themselves: “The rock won’t win this time” is perhaps the mantra of every climber.

As I hang there snapping shots of Chris doing his thing, however, it seems as though the rock has nothing against this 24-year-old. His movements against the rock are like clockwork, extremely precise and deliberate. His hands find the tiniest nooks and crannies to hook on to, just for that added bit of support, while his feet are practically pressed against the vertical rock face for more leverage. His limbs are contorted into positions that allow him to stick closer to the rock, and before I know it, I see him passing by me through the viewfinder of my camera. He’s scaling the wall like it has steps built into it. I secure my camera against my side and say to myself: “Man, I think I just saw Spider-Man.”

When we are lowered back down to the ground, Chris notes how smooth and clean the rock is and starts talking about rock quality. Much the way golfers rate certain courses and holes, rock climbers rate the difficulty of certain routes against a wall as well. This rating refers to the climbing aspect of rock quality, while the cleanliness of the rock (no moss or shrubs growing where hands and feet are supposed to go) and the colors on it are part of the aesthetic criteria of rating rocks. As far as rock quality and climbing conditions in the Philippines are concerned (this being his first trip to the Philippines,) Chris’s expectations, according to him, were well exceeded.

In Toledo, he enjoyed being away from the city and described this as seeing what a real Filipino community in the province would be like. Our group, along with Chris, stayed at a nearby resort, about 30 minutes on foot from the limestone wall. In between the resort and the climb site, we would pass bamboo houses, nipa-roofed houses, children playing in the river, and an entire community living in the valley before the limestone. This is what Chris really wanted to see, and his personality of being an outdoor person explains all of it. Sharing a part of his experience, Chris says “My father took me out of public school for four months of the school year and home-schooled me as we traveled around the country living in the back of our pickup truck. We climbed every other day and did school work every other day. By the time I was a teenager, I figured I had slept in a sleeping bag under the stars more than one third of my life.”

For Chris, another thing that climbing does is that it opens up opportunities for him to travel. He has traveled and climbed in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Korea, and all over the US. He promotes the sport of rock climbing with a passion and with every place he goes to, he wishes to impart how the sport makes individuals appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature.

Traveling is also a way for Chris to learn more about others and about himself, he says. “I want to explore every corner of the earth, developing not only the world’s hardest and most beautiful rock climbs, but also developing my own character by gaining the ‘big picture’ of life and the various cultures and landscapes on this earth.”

The rock is something that Chris has identified himself with for more that 20 years, and it has become a part of him. He is living his dream; climbing all around the world and being a full-time, professional rock climber.

For Chris the “why,” with regard to rock climbing, has many answers. They all have a common undertone: whether it is the love of nature, the mental and physical challenge, or being outdoors, Chris describes it as an obsession. He says: “I wouldn’t know why I love climbing so much because I have never gone more than a couple weeks of my life without it. It is who I am. It is my lifestyle. All I want to do for the rest of my life is rock climb. It is beyond love; at this point, it is obsession.”

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For more information visit www.chrislindner.com.

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E-mail me at enricomiguelsubido@yahoo.com.