Inspiration

Doctors told Owen that he needs to stop climbing. I'm going to tell you why they're wrong.

There are many ways to describe Owen Graham; 19 years young; a college sophomore; from a good family; raised in Texas. He's the type a daughter would bring home to mom (ladies...), and the type of man who changes people's lives for the better. These are just several of many adjectives and life experiences which have helped shape Owen, though they don't truly tell his story.

Two weeks ago, he contacted me regarding training for the Youth World's Championship in Singapore; he won Youth Nationals this year and had self-awareness enough not to ride on the coattails of his victory. He saw the need for Power. With most pro climbers I train the overall story is largely the same: great people, driven, motivated, and intensely competitive. With Owen, the story began to twist. A little more quiet, a little less intense, and a little quicker to please. He's not only a great competitor, he's polite and kind; if someone approaches him while training, he has the composure to reply with a smile and be courteous. He's easy to befriend. Later he even ridiculed me for "being old" or "an awful belayer" and "a worse trainer". I typically followed weak insults with stoic resolve and professionalism--just kidding, I called him poop names.

I tend to study my athletes. Not in the scientific sense, more, how to connect and understand them as people in order to enrich their individual experience. Knowing how they think, and what they are feeling (yes, I am telepathic) is as much a part of the training as the actual workouts. Owen proved harder to understand. He's laid back and wicked chill; seemingly without a care in the world. That is, until he started talking with me, not at me (as people often do). Owen explained why he was here at Movement Climbing and Fitness training with this 'Kris Peters' who he heard only heard about.

Owen suffers from extreme tendonitis and Carp-Syndrome. It is a debilitating condition that can cause Owen such discomfort that he can barely open his arms. Doctors have told him that he needs his arm cut wide open in order to perform a surgery that has a 40-50% chance of success. One day I was warming Owen up on a 5.11d and his forearms blew up. Naturally I was alarmed, but was sadly ignorant of the cause and ramifications--Owen insisted that we keep climbing, and so we did. When Owen fell on a 5.12d I knew there was a real problem. When I walked up to Owen he was in serious pain. He couldn't untie his rope because he couldn't close his hands properly. He was in more mental pain than physical though. For him, not continuing with the training that day was tantamount to giving up entirely, but the pain in his face was telling, and I made him stop.

Sitting there by the wall, Owen explained his true motivation for representing USA in Singapore. It wasn't for a money, girls, or fame--it was for a son a mother had lost. Owen met a woman who's son was a committed rock climber and was tragically killed in a accident. Owen wanted to help in anyway he could, but what could this 19 year old possibly do to help? He responded by stepping up to the plate by putting the son's initials on his USA jersey. Every time he competes, they're with him, all the way. They've come to mean more than just a few letters, they're the fuel which drives Owen to reach ever higher in competitions and in life. Even if it brings the smallest comfort to a mom knowing that he's remembered, and is making a difference in the sport he loved, it'll be worth it a thousand times over.

It doesn't matter if someone is a Pro football player, basketball player, or rock climber--they all have fans. They all have someone looking up to them for direction. Owen Graham gets it. I just hope the rest of us can too. If you are a sponsored Prana, North Face, or Mountain Hardware athlete there are people out there who look to you as a hero and role model. You have the chance to affect them positively through kindness, success, and self-awareness. Find those people you can help, and do so.

Maybe while climbing in Singapore fighting through the excruciating pain in his arms, he'll remember all those training sessions, those doctors, those initials, and he'll climb just a little higher. Maybe a little higher than any one else. Maybe, just a little higher than he thought was possible...

Wouldn't that be something to see.