At the end of my rope...

There are things in life that will indeed follow strict mathematic rules, despite the fact that life in general is mysterious and by far not as calculable as some would like it to be...one of these universal patterns (simplified, I will admit to that) actually explains what is happening around me, what´s happening at the gym I´ve been working at for four years now and what´s increasingly taking it´s toll, even though I´ve been hesitant to admit that for quite some time...I´m a climbing coach and I´m at the end of my rope!
One of these days, someone is going to get hurt, there´s no way around that and any attempt to either shrug off that realization or dismiss it as maybe just a tad exaggerative in the end only contributes to the whole problem. Increase the number of people participating in a certain activity and the number of folks so blatantly ignorant of what they´re doing will increase as well, it´s simple mathmatics applied!
Soccer moms go for lead climbs in between Latte Macciatos and ignorant and numbskull boyfriends take their naive, admiring or alternativly just plain scared girlfriends to the gym. Toddlers mistake the bouldering area for a playgound and any complain will be dismissed as a manifesto of how narrowminded and impatient grown ups can be by super-moms and super-dads defending their bratish little monster and his/her friends. Not to mention the fact that these parents are actually relieved to have the kids torture someone else...As a coach, I have to talk to people in all these cases...there´re things such as the Good-Samaritan-Law and even though I won´t go into any more legal details, well, you guys shouldn´t be doing that. Take a class or at least consider it...
Topping this seems hard but, yes, it can be done! Not only has sportclimbing boomed to an extend that no one could expect, it has also sparked a need for more coaches...which means that pretty much everybody can become a coach nowadays. What´s making this especially worse is that a ton of people for some strange reason consider themselves competent enough for that. Now everybody needs to get started at some point but if you can get a license that easily, something is wrong. Recently I was present when one of my former teen teamers was prolly leadscared for a while while doing lead-fall-practice with another coach...after slamming into the wall, the poor kid sat on the couch for an hour, holding her ankle and holding back her tears. Fortunately I was around since that particular coach didn´t even realize what had happend-no ice, no comforting talks and no apology. Competence in action! This doesn´t mean that I don´t like these people on a personal basis, most of the coaches working for the gym are really nice...it´s just that being nice doesn´t qualify you in my opinion...you´ll have to add sound knowledge about training and injury prevention, excellent skill on all levels of climbing and a ton of experience for situations both already there and about to unfold, and yes, that calls for intuition!
With all this, someone is going to be seriously hurt these days...it´s inevitable and I´m not a cynic. I`m just really happy to make it into my real job as a teacher next week. Less days spent at the gym decrease the probability of being on the spot when the whole nastiness will unfold.
I recently told someone his rope was damaged and had to be replaced...and got told that he never takes a fall...Spinners anyone? Footslips? Questions anyone?
Now one could actually ask why all these people are let into the gym in the first place...but hey, we all know the answer, right?

Top 5...

Okay, making lists is fun...at times!
So here´s my Top 5 boulders and routes...doesn´t include projects...
Boulders:
Seven Spanish Angels, Bishop/Buttermilks
Circus Trick Right, Big Bend
Army of Darkness, Big Bend
The King, Yosemite
Essential Peabody, Bishop/Buttermilks

Routes:
Murati, Gorges du Tarn
Action Discrete, Gorges du Tarn
L´heure d´ete, Gorges du Tarn
Sennerin, Dietrichshorn
Supernase, Frankenjura

So in case you can get out there and try them...do so!