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I must admit.

I had lost my motivation for climbing for months.

I ended up taking almost a 1/2 year break with occasional forays to J-tree, Castle Rock and Redrocks...yet the lack of excitement or want for climbing was there.

Ended up spending a wonderful season snow-shoeing, a little bit of summiting and alot of disc golf

Two weekends ago we went to Yosemite...yet for some odd reason I just could not find that drive that "want it so badly baby" deep within

until

Last weekend, we went to Arch Rock, hopped onto Leanie Meanie and then BAM

It all came back, the suffering, the want, the love, the hate, the orgasm, the down, the elation, the gobies, & most importanty; the comapny of good friends.

LOVE CAME BACK, DESIRE AND ALL!!!

I would love to hear stories of how others lost & refounded their motivation for climbing!

Ya, I'm sort of in the same place. Sometimes you just need a break. I did nothing but climb for 10 years, then burned out and quit climbing entirely for about 10 years.

Now I like to mix it up more - climbing, kayaking, xc skiing, Burning Man - ha !

I tend to lose some motivation when I'm tired from work but from experience, I know that's exactly when I need to go out. Each and every time, I feel sooo much better afterwards.

I like to keep a variety of things to do; mountains are just the main course.

I think everyone suffers from burnout at some point. It's when climbing (or whatever your passion) starts to feel more like a job or something you have to do that you know you're getting close to burnout. There's nothing wrong with stepping back, taking some time off and letting your passion rekindle.

Don't climb because you feel like you have to, climb because you want to.

One of the things that has kept my motivation up over the years is that there is so much variety inherent to climbing. I have gotten stoked and bored and restoked over mountaineering, trad rock, aid/wall, winter mixed alpine, summer alpine rock, backcountry skiing, ski mountaineering, trail running, single push ascents, expeditions, bouldering, long hard days, short easy days, climbing with strong men, climbing with strong women, climbing with my daughter, climbing with my wife, introducing new climbers to the game, introducing traveling climbers to my home range, road tripping, climbing in my home range, dirt bagging, staying in 4 star hotels, soloing, meeting and enjoying the company of amazing people.

I do it for the money.

cool thread & good points. Visiting new areas (which starts with flipping thru. new guidebooks) really gets my stoke going.

You know, sometimes you just lose the motivation.

Sometimes it's temporary. Sometimes it's permanent.

I used to get kinda upset when I lost the motivation, wondered what was wrong. It's happened to me so many times in so many sports that I just don't worry about it anymore. Sometimes you need to spend the weekend painting the house instead tying into the sharp end of the rope.

It's part of life, use the free time to do something else for a change. When's the last time you paid attention to the color of your girlfriend's eyes? If you really love the sport, the desire will return.

About 5 years ago I lost the motivation to run whitewater rivers in my kayak. That motivation never returned. I still play in holes and surf, but it's all park-n-play and I'm 110% satisfied with that.

I got bored with endurance sports and starting training MMA. For a couple years I trained Kenpo, Ju-Jitsu, and sparred with a boxing trainer. It was a tough schedule but I was really fit and the confidence of being a trained fighter is great. One day, I woke up and it just wasn't worth it anymore. I quit MMA, started adventure racing and never looked back. What you choose to do with your time has to be fun or it's not worth it.

All is said and true!

I had a similar burn out in Mtn biking: 10 years of riding and racing...burned out 1/2 through college...took 8 years off, now happy riding with my g/f on light trails or just dirt touring.

It is true...stop to see the sights, spend time with the ones we love, pursue new interests...I am very lucky and blessed.

Thank you!

LithiumMetalman wrote:All is said and true!

I had a similar burn out in Mtn biking: 10 years of riding and racing...burned out 1/2 through college...took 8 years off, now happy riding with my g/f on light trails or just dirt touring.

It is true...stop to see the sights, spend time with the ones we love, pursue new interests...I am very lucky and blessed.

Thank you!

Kind of the beauty of Cali. There's so much variety, you don't have to be stuck on doing one thing all the time.

Dingus

It's hard to say or put in words what it was... a moment of pure joy...a capture of moment's in one's life that makes living beautiful.

I think the combination of Leanie Meanie, the people, & the camadrieship recreated that spark, that capture.

Sorry, that sounds really fruity...but it is the closest thing I can describe in words.

I did indeed have different partners from the weekend before, though I have climbed with them in the past.

The weather from both weekends were different, one was warm and dry the other wonderfully cool yet moist, both beautiful.

The routes from both weekends were indeed different from each other, yet stellar.
-The weekend before we climbed a few stellar moderates (Pineline, Lena's Lieback,etc)
-Last weekend we climbed some stellar climbs (Leanie Meanie, Midterm, Lunatic Fringe,etc)

Though that should not make a difference.

It is hard to say what it was particularly, but definitely felt the spark.

I will have to ponder on this. thanks!

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:You know, sometimes you just lose the motivation.

Sometimes it's temporary. Sometimes it's permanent.

I used to get kinda upset when I lost the motivation, wondered what was wrong. It's happened to me so many times in so many sports that I just don't worry about it anymore. Sometimes you need to spend the weekend painting the house instead tying into the sharp end of the rope.

It's part of life, use the free time to do something else for a change. When's the last time you paid attention to the color of your girlfriend's eyes? If you really love the sport, the desire will return.

About 5 years ago I lost the motivation to run whitewater rivers in my kayak. That motivation never returned. I still play in holes and surf, but it's all park-n-play and I'm 110% satisfied with that.

I agree, one "moves on". That doesn´t have to be a quality judgement though in the sense of progression or regression. Sometimes there´s no room for it - but that can change too, it did for me.