FINISH HOLD - #36 - TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY

For his rousing speech and this tasty flapper shot, Sean Harris will get pair of sweet and sticky Escapist approach shoes from Evolv (evolvclimbing.com). You, too, can get the last word in UC and win free gear — send Finish Hold submissions (350 words max, with pics and/or art) to finishhold@urbanclimbermag.com.

The error of our ways is only that we climb too much. With three hours to complete four hours of studying, we climb and do not study. Only the man who climbs six days a week can call himself obsessed. Only when you have callus so thick you can no longer straighten your fingers are you at peace with yourself. The scraping of skin on a crimp and the slap of palm on sloper are music to our ears. Defeat comes only when our tendons give in or our wallets give out. Maybe in the end our bodies will succumb to the torture we put them through and we will lay down to rest, but today is not that day; today we climb as though that day would come tomorrow.