Words by Cedric, who climbed a first ever Tjoms in Arms this year. We asked a few climbers to tell us what the day was like from the mats - this is Cedric's story.
Tjom Till Death
I signed up for my first ever Tjoms In Arms this year, a Friends and Allies partnered climbing event. At the time of sign up, I asked my tjom if they’d Tjom till death with me, but both of us didn’t really know what we’d gotten ourselves into as we’re both new to the climbing scene.
How I Prepped
Once the panic and realisation had set in that I’d done something uncharacteristically me, *cough* sign up for a social event AND a competitive one at that *cough*, I decided to get gud. Well as good as one could with just little over a month and a half before the competition and around just five months of consistent climbing. Luckily, I wasn’t alone; my tjom, who is also relatively new to climbing, was super keen to train with me. Cue the Rocky training montage - climbing gym flavoured!
Our training montage had less stairs and eye of the tiger, instead it consisted of climbing at the gym as often as we healthily could while listening to their sick jams and playlists. We made sure to try push outside of comfort zones, mine being slab. Pushing out of the comfort zone was also very colourful. See, Friends and Allies difficulty rating uses colours, and I can do mostly green and blue, so to go plus ultra I needed to embrace that there were other colours. Unfortunately, though, when I see orange and red tags, a little self-doubt seeps in, but the gym had a solution for that. Every Tuesday they do a bit of a home makeover, and to encourage us to be daring, of sorts, the new problems they put up are ungraded, or a black tag, for that first week it’s up. No more “oh that’s red, I can’t do that” and more “I wonder what this one is?” Self-doubt flipped into curiosity, just like that. It was fun just grabbing the start of the new problems and seeing where I could go, what I could do, and then a week later seeing if I guessed right. Sometimes the problems were graded more difficult than blue. Now, did that mean I was suddenly sending reds? No, but it showed me that I should try regardless, *shudders* even if it is slab.
The Day Itself
Fast forward to the day of Tjoms, barely being able to sleep from both anxiety and excitement, I grabbed my maid outfit (surprise! Dress code was anything but climbing clothes) and set out for one of the most fun and challenging days this year. The second session of the morning was our slot, my friend was the butler, and I the maid, and what a hell of a butler they were.
After having the rules explained with the live music resuming, we looked at the 30 problems set out for the day, each slot had two hours and thirty minutes allotted to score as many points as possible. The catch? Only ten of the problems counted – it was go big or go home, only the ten most difficult problems would score, and you both had to score enough to qualify for finals or neither of you do. Immediately my tjom and I started strategising, and looking to use our freshness for the most difficult problems we could do. A quick analysis for maximising shareholder value would tell you problems 21 to 30 are where it’s at, but later we learned we weren’t looking for shareholder value, but the vibes instead.
The Problems
From slab to overhang, each of the walls throughout the gym had a theme and encouraged a specific technique, be that toe-hook, heel-hook, gaston (I’m learning the jargon like a pro), to approach the problems at hand.
Though, on the wall it was a different story, some of the problems were trickier than I had read them to be. Maybe I took a path less travelled, or didn’t use the right technique, even the “easy” looking ones still proved to be a challenge worth feeling proud about as genuinely, these were set to show off your climbing chops.
The Vibe
While I didn’t get to complete each one I set out to do, I learned to try anyway, reminding myself the competition was just as much about fun as it was a show of strong climbing. And you couldn’t mistake the vibes or encouragement, with live DJs and crowds of strangers and friends alike shouting “allez” as you tried, and the cheering once you completed a problem, regardless of difficulty. I couldn’t help but get caught up in the awe and joy of the event itself, and this wasn’t even the finals. All around were people really giving everything a go, and I got to witness some insanely cool people doing insanely cool things.
Best Dressed and the Finals
In the evening, before finals, there was a competition for best dressed, and the butler and maid showed up. Tragically, but deservedly, three other spectacularly dressed teams won, with the crowds cheering off the charts.
Then came the finals itself. I got to see climbers and problems of crazy feats; it truly was awe inspiring. If you weren’t aware of the climbing community’s solidarity before then you certainly were made sure of it. With nothing shy of the utmost love for the sport and your fellow climber shown, I even get goosebumps thinking of it. I can’t wait to see what next year brings.
Why I'll Be Back
Though with all the fanfare of the day itself, I think one thing that would have me come back is the energy of the gym itself, a place where you can be yourself and make friends while doing it. After all, I’d met my Tjom at Friends and Allies a month before we signed up; two strangers brought together by the vibe of the gym, encouraged by the people in it to try something neither had done before. That’s something I can’t put a value to; a place with the ability to let one grow and exist safely while being seen and brought closer to strangers and friends alike, it’s priceless and that will keep me coming back to Tjoms and more.
Photos: Chris - Frontier Media (@frontiermedia_za) and Alaister Russell (@alaisterrussell). Butler and maid photo courtesy of Cedric.
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