把攀岩当作一种生活方式

Climbing as a lifestyle

把攀岩当作一种生活方式

文：安龙（Cosmin Andron) 译：周霞（Joanna Zhou)

Published in Shanye, May 2007

I see rock climbing not just as sport, but a way of life. Sometimes I can just sit at the bottom of a cliff, look around and feel good. I don’t even have to climb. (Stefan Glowacz)

我把攀岩不仅仅看作是一种运动，而是一种生活方式。有时候坐在峭壁下，环顾四周，甚至不用去爬它我就能感觉非常好。（摘自Stefan Glowacz）

It is definitely something odd and rather unsocial for a person to put so much effort, time and sometimes their lives on the line and to try to move up on vertical ground. Climbing is not a team sport but most likely a highly individualistic one and yet in few endeavours (maybe with the exception of BASE) such a community centred one too.

对于一个人来说，把如此多的精力和时间花在一个绳子上，并尽力在一个垂直的岩壁上向上爬，有时候还搭上他的性命，这的确显得有点奇怪和相当不合群。攀岩不仅是一个团队运动而更多是一个高度个人主义运动，然而在少数运动中(也许除了BASＥ这项极限运穿着降落伞从高空跳下的运动以外），它也是一个以团体为中心的运动。

Climbers are quite proud to mention that climbing is more than an ordinary sport, that it is a way of life. It likens a bit to martial arts where in both cases one’s hobby permeates his entire social and family life to quite a large extent to become a lifestyle; climbers also like to see themselves as artists of some sort, climbing being, ideally, a way of expression.

攀岩者们都非常自豪的提到攀岩不仅仅是一项运动，它也是一种生活方式。它也有点象武术，在这两种方式中，一个人的爱好可以渗透他的整个社会生活和家庭生活，以致于在很大程度上，变成一种生活方式；攀岩者们也喜欢把自己看成是艺术家，某种意义上，就攀岩本身而言，这是一种理想式的描述。

When I started climbing, 18 years ago, in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania climbing and life looked quite different than they do now, in 2007, in China where I have been living for the past three years. Eastern Europe of the late 80’es was the site of various failed social experiments and, more or less, each country a police state. Freedom of expression was a luxury not many afforded and finding ways to exercise such freedoms was, to say the least, a challenge. While some preferred the political arena or the arts others found their way of expressing their need for freedom outdoors. Risks were involved in either case, and for Eastern Europeans maximizing the risk, facing it and defying it was the grand prize. The greatest majority of climbers were from a working class background, the relationships within the community straightforward and the means meagre. It was not about gear or clothing or sponsors or media – it was about personal challenges and confronting fear or difficulties. Gear was sketchy and most of the times home made. It was at most means to attain a goal and not something one would spend too much time thinking about, an attitude that pushed bold ascents, the limits of endurance and solos to the forefront. In a remarkable twist of fate philosophies forged during the reign of oppressive regimes in Eastern Europe have influenced greatly what today is seen as modern, cutting edge, alpine climbing.

在十八年前，当我在我的家乡－罗马尼亚－开始爬喀尔巴阡山时，当时的生活和攀岩看起来与现在－2007年－中国－我所生活了三年的地方是如此的不同。80年代晚期，东欧国家经历了各种各样的失败的尝试，而且，或多或少，每一个受警察限制的国家，自由是一个奢侈的字眼，不是很多人能获得它，也不是很多人能找到合适的方式来实现它。这样的自由，曾经至少是一种挑战。然而就当一部分人在政治或艺术的舞台上实现它时，而其他人根据他们自己的需要，用他们自己的方式在户外来实现它。无论是哪种方式，都会有风险。然而对于东欧人而言，最大限度地扩大风险，再来面对它，挑战它，这才是最盛大的战利品。大部分的攀岩者都是来自工人阶级，他们在这个团体中坦率直接，即使没有多少钱。从事攀岩不是为了装备，衣服，也不是赞助，媒体－而是为了个人的挑战，为了战胜恐惧，为了对抗困难，他们的装备非常粗糙，大多时候都是自制。这更加意味着他们会努力去达到一个目标而不是要花很多时间只是思考它。这更是一种心态，促使你大胆攀登，挖掘你的耐力极限，独自攀向最前沿。阿尔卑式的攀岩就是在东欧压迫政权的统治期间诞生并深受其那些明显扭曲了的命运哲学的影响，而现在看来比较时尚却在当时只是迫不得已。

In the West the climbing community was not less radical albeit for different reasons. Even in a free society the climbing community was about looking for the alternative lifestyle. The dirtbag, the rebel who rejects the social conventions of getting a job, working 9-to-5, raising kids and building a house is the romantic hero figure. It took indeed some motivation to drop out of school, quit your job, live in a campsite while raiding the rubbish bins for your meals or surviving on state sponsored welfare funds. Building on legendary figures and looking at the tradition as a source of inspiration, at the ‘old guys’ as being tougher, more motivated bolder than the younger generations, helped pushing the limits of climbing and at the same time pushed the hardcore climbers even further from the mainstream society with which, not rarely, he would find himself at war. Places like “Camp 4” in Yosemite or the British campsite in Chamonix were such alternative societies.

在西方，尽管有不同的原因，攀岩团体并不是不够激进。即使在一个没有约束的社会，攀岩团体还是关注寻找二选一的生活方式。The dirtbag，攀岩者中的叛逆者，他们是浪漫主义英雄人物，反对工作，因为那就意味着朝九晚五地工作，抚养孩子和建一所房子。退学，辞掉工作并露宿野外对他们来说确实需要一些决心，并且他们还要在垃圾箱里寻找食物或者靠政府提供的救济金才能生存。作为更顽强的“老一辈”，他们是建立在传奇人物之上并且把传统看作是灵感的来源，比年轻一辈更大胆，更有决心帮助推动攀岩运动的极限，与此同时也推动顶尖攀岩者更远离主流社会，因为这一社会只会让他们最后陷入困境中。就象美国约塞米帝公园的“camp 4”或者在法国加穆尼克斯的英国营地就是这样不同团体的地方。

Nevertheless, with sport climbing getting more media and corporate attention the recluse lifestyle and the promise of sponsorship deals or careers in climbing, a field reserved only to professional guides (an even more hermetic society) the climber began to find his place in mainstream. Clipping bolts meant increasing the margins of safety which appealed to a much larger audience and with the advent of competitions the gates were wide open to ‘outsiders’. In Eastern Europe where the means and access to better gear and sponsorship deals were still a far and unclear prospect, the wars between traditionalists and the new wave of weekend warriors were unnecessary. Most of the climbers there were weekend warriors anyway, but of a different sort and whose total commitment to a climbing was as actual as ever.

然而，伴随着攀岩运动越来越传媒化，越来越多的公司对其孤独的生活方式表示关注，并许诺给予攀岩事业上的赞助，一个原本只属于专业向导的领域(一个可以说与世隔绝的社会)，开始在主流社会也找到位置。在攀岩中挂上快挂意味增加安全的筹码，这一点也受到更多“观众”的关注，随着攀岩竞赛的兴起，攀岩的大门向更多“门外汉”敞开。在东欧，能够获得更好的装备并得到赞助的机会并不是很多，而且前景也不是很乐观，另外，传统攀岩者与“周末勇士”的竞争也是没有必要的，因为那时大部分攀岩者都是“周末勇士”，从另外一种意义来说，对于攀岩的完全忠诚才是最重要的。

Funny enough this mass access to something that was at one time the secret life of a small community did little to change the spirit by which the climbers like to run their lives. At the dawn of the 21^st century the climbing community sees itself as much larger though has lost nothing from its claims of being some sort of alternative to the mainstream society. What changed is that while twenty years ago a climber was most likely to practice all disciplines while probably excelling at one the climbers of today are most likely to specialise in a discipline and leave it at that.

有趣的是，虽然很多人都能接触攀岩，但是这个小团体的攀岩者以他们想要的精神状态去生活并不会受到太多改变。21世纪的来临，攀岩团体看到自己不断壮大，区别与主流社会来讲，尽管他们在追求自己所想要的过程中没有获得什么。唯一改变的是：20年前，一个攀岩者更倾向于练习所有的技能尽管最后只在一方面胜出，而如今，攀岩者们更喜欢练习一方面的技能，并一直这样擅长下去。

Climbing on plastic has brought climbers back to the city and while for many escaping into nature is the path which they followed through climbing, for many the city is equally the place for a climber. While for the urban climber the risk and challenge takes a different meaning, as different as plastic and rock can be, there is no mistaking that living an alternative lifestyle is as important as ever.

在人工岩壁的攀岩已经把攀岩者们带回到城市生活，然而对于其他攀岩者来说，他们更宁愿回归到大自然，对于攀岩者来说，虽然城市也是攀岩的地方。可是，人工岩壁与天然岩壁所产生的风险和挑战对“城市攀岩这”来说是远远不同的，这就是为什么选择这样与众不同的生活方式对其他攀岩者来说是如此的重要！

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I will not claim to know the history of climbing in China and many if not most of its defining moments are unknown to me. But living and climbing here for the last three years and being part of the climbing community here gave me an interesting insight into who the Chinese Climber is.

我并不认为自己了解中国的攀岩历史，而且对于它形成的那段时光我也是不知道的。但是在中国生活和攀岩的这三年经历，让我有趣的认识到中国的攀岩者是什么样子的。

Unlike high altitude mountaineering which was and is seen as a legitimate activity to conquer and boost national pride, the other disciplines have sprung and evolved more randomly. There is no mistake that rock and ice climbing occurred and are still developing under a strong western influence, but what is missing here is the tradition such western climbers like to look back at and draw inspiration from. Lacking such an attachment to a home-grown tradition the Chinese climber is an Urban Climber. Unlike my old climbing partners who were workers (electricians, miners, carpenters) the overwhelming majority of my climbing friends in China are university graduates or white collar employees. Unlike chasing adventures and pushing the risk limits, the Chinese climber complements his social life with an exercise meant to provide him with a stronger body, a bit of excitement and a sense of freedom derived from defying the laws of physics and not the laws of society or the very limits of one’s own existence.

不象高海拔的登山运动，曾经是而且现在也被视为是一项合法的运动，战胜它，并且带来民族荣誉感，其他运动的却只是爆发出来，更随意的发展。攀岩和攀冰在西方强势的影响下产生和并发展，这一点是毫无疑问的。但是中国所没有的是对于本国传统攀岩的爱慕。中国的攀岩者是城市攀岩者。不象我以前的搭档，他们都是工人（电工、矿工和木匠），而我的大多数有影响力的中国攀岩朋友，他们都是大学毕业生或者白领阶层。他们不是为了冒险或推动极限，他们更多的是把它当作业余生活的补充，从而达到强身健体，抛开身体束缚以及社会规则和限制而获得的一点兴奋感和自由感。

The Chinese climber is perfectly integrated in society while at the same time manages to maintain, through internet and local clubs, a very close and loyal community. Somehow it seems to me that the Chinese climbing community is much more communitarian, socialist if you want, than the individualistic-oriented Western one.

中国的攀岩者在社团中更完美的结合在一起，与此同时，他们还尽力通过互联网和当地俱乐部维持一个亲密的忠诚的团体。在某种程度上，对我来说，中国的攀岩团体比以个人主义为中心的西方团体更加共产主义和社会主义。

One of the most striking things I noticed when arriving at a crag in Yangshuo for the first time was … the gear… Shiny new Black Diamond draws, slick Beal ropes, the latest gadget and device on the market, Prana and Arcteryx garments and so on. All this looked even shinier when compared to my battered, worn and abused rack of mixed brands biners, slings and cheap fuzzy rope. No doubt all the signs of a booming market made me wonder if this is not a bit too dry. Without the challenge of improvising or invent isn’t this kind of spoon-fed climbing devoid of any excitement and not very different from simple gymnastics?

其中 我所注意到的最显著的不同是装备：当我第一次到阳朔攀岩时，那耀眼的新快挂（BD），光滑的Beal rope，市场上最新的小装置和配件，以及PRANA和ARCTERYX的衣服等等。所有的这些与我的旧的，已用多时的而且还是杂牌的装备比起来更加耀眼。这蒸蒸日上的装备市场迹象无疑让我想知道这些会不会有点太单调？没有了即兴和创造，这种被宠坏了的攀岩会不会就失去了兴奋感，也就与一般的体育运动没有任何区别了？

But then again, imposing my own values and traditions upon a society with a different starting point than mine is simply reactionary. Chinese climbers need not start with hemp ropes so as to gain validation from the West. Chinese climbers of this generation are those who shape the tradition and their values are those that will get passed on and they are responsible for it.

但是话又说回来，把我个人的价值观和传统强加给一个与我的国家起源不一样的社会，实在有点反动。中国攀岩并不需要以大麻绳开始攀来获得西方的认可。中国这一代攀岩者是那些塑造传统改造价值的一代人，也是那些会继续发扬并对它负责的一代人。

And while there is no social manifesto in Chinese giving up their jobs or careers in favour of a full time climber’s lifestyle this abandonment is no less significant. I am lucky to know some of the best climbers around and to enjoy their friendship. In their own right, each and every one of them is a legend in the Chinese climbing community. Three of them are the perpetual sport-climbing champions – full time climbers, regimented sportsmen/woman who behind the flimsy social security of a scholarship train three times a day and take part in as many as one or two competitions in a month all over China and South East Asia. Their job-like commitment to sport climbing and competition leaves little room for climbing just for fun yet in a world where being a professional sportsman does not promise the financial security of a tennis player or a golfer, this is as close as it gets from having security, an education and doing what you are good at.

然而中文里面没有这种为了一个全职攀岩者的生活方式而放弃工作和事业的文字声明，所以这种放弃也是没有任何意义的。我很庆幸认识到周围的一些顶尖的攀岩者并且和他们交上朋友。就他们本身而言，他们中的每一个人都是中国攀岩团体中的传奇。其中三人一直都是人工岩壁比赛的冠军——全职攀岩，受着组织的约束，有着奖学金的保障，每天训练三次，每月参加一到两次比赛，国内的甚至东南亚的。他们的工作就是不断从事人工岩壁的攀爬，比赛让他们不再有时间“为了乐趣而攀岩”。然而在世界上，成为一个专业的运动员并不意味着象网球运动员或者高尔夫运动员那样有经济保障。同样地，有一定的教育，做你擅长做的事情也不一定能带来经济上的保障。

Outside the competition circuit the dirtbag is a Chinese reality, but make no mistake: the Chinese dirtbag is quite different from the resident of Camp 4. The epicentre of sport climbing in China is Yangshuo and this little, unappealing by itself town manages to collect on its two or three tourism developed streets a colourful combination of itinerant Chinese and foreign climbers and local Chinese rock guides. With a reggae fuelled atmosphere and the occasional happy smoke, Yangshuo is an imitation of a more exotic destination: Tonsai (near Krabi in Southern Thailand). Unlike the western dirtbag the Chinese, non-sponsored full time climber does not need to live in a tent and dig through restaurant leftovers to survive. They manage to make a living through rock guiding and by having frugal tastes, yet they manage to live in flats, even if shared, and to live not worst than a local farmer. With so many people being attracted to the outdoors and the huge floods of tourists during the national holidays means that in the land of fairly cheap living, which rural China is, a couple of weeks’ earnings are enough to allow a quite decent living in a somewhat urban and cosmopolitan setting. While the Chinese dirtbag comes most likely from a working class background his lifestyle as rock or mountain guide is not hugely different from how it would be if he were to work in industry but definitely would be missing the perks of the life a place like Yangshuo has to offer.

在竞赛圈之外，就是中国的dirtbag，但是千万别搞错，中国的dirtbag与Campe 4的居住者是完全不同的。中国攀岩的中心在阳朔，这个小镇本身并没有多少吸引人的地方，却设法发展了两到三项旅游业，而且有趣地把中国的外国的攀岩者，当地的向导都聚集在这里，并流连忘返。阳朔更多的是一个模仿异国情调的地方：象tonsai(在泰国的crabi附近)。中国的dirtbag， 不象西方， 即使没有赞助，全职的攀岩者也没有必要住在帐蓬里，或者在餐馆里挖剩菜才能生存。他们通过当向导，吃一些素食过日子，而且即使是合住，他们也会住在公寓里，不会比当地农民差。随着越来越多的人喜欢户外，以及在国家假期旅游高峰期，生活在中国农村，相对比较便宜，几个星期的工资就足够让他们过着体面的生活。然而中国大多数dirtbag来自工薪阶层，他们作为向导的生活方式与他在工厂工作并没有多大不同，但是绝对会失去象阳朔那样的地方提供给他们的快活感。

Among my friends I count two people who, for different reasons, are held in high esteem by their community beyond their climbing skills. On of them for choosing climbing over a post graduate degree and a life of material security which seemed to impress in a society where social ranking is so important. The other one for building and networking a club with the most amazing communitarian spirit, a climbing club which has seen associated with it the names of quite a large number of very strong and talented climbers. Both of these people have managed to gain a tremendous amount of respect based on their background, climbing ability and personality.

我算了一下，在我的中国朋友当中，有两个人，因为不同的原因，在他们的团体中受到很高的敬重，超出了他们的攀岩技能。其中的一位在完成研究生后选择了攀岩，在一个社会等级比较重要而且讲究物质保障的社会，这一点给人留下深刻印象。另一位则为了建立一个攀岩俱乐部，有着最不可思议的共产主义精神，这个俱乐部有着许多攀岩高手。他们俩都凭着个人的背景，攀岩能力以及人格魅力获得极大的尊重。

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Nevertheless, the picture of the climbing community in China would not be complete if I were to stop here. Foreigners have been the catalyst as far as rock and ice climbing goes and they continue to be a presence and influence in shaping the way Chinese climbers live and climb.

然而，如果我就说到这里的话，中国的攀岩团体的画面是不完整的。外国人的存在和影响在中国攀岩攀冰运动中起着催化剂的作用，并为中国攀岩者的生活和攀岩开辟道路。

Yangshuo is flooded each year with strong itinerant climbers from all over the world who come, climb, put up routes and set new standards. Some of them decide to return and some of them decide to stay.

每年都会有来自世界各地的攀岩高手涌向阳朔，在那里开辟线路，设立新的标准。他们中的一部分人决定会再回来，一部分人决定留下。

Foreign residents and Chinese alike open new areas and sometimes venture in making climbing into a profitable business by opening guide services. Without failure the Chinese  Mountaineering Association invites on every major occasion competitors from abroad and each year, by competing against them, the Chinese climbers become stronger and stronger.

居住在中国的外国人和中国人一样面临一个新的时代，有时候他们会冒险把攀岩变成一份有利可图的生意，通过设立向导服务。可以成功地说，中国登山协会每年都会邀请国外的选手来与中国的选手进行竞赛，使他们越来越优秀。

There is indeed a lack of hard tradition one feels when coming to China and quite a lot of admiration sometimes without content towards western achievement instead of a steadier focus on achieving similar results here. The Chinese climber is in general cautious and less adventurous. With safety paramount and focus on physical exercise a great untapped potential of hard and bold climbing in the alpine or big wall arena is only shyly touched upon. The Chinese climbing stars are mainly competition stars and the bold and visionary are a few.

当来到中国， 一个人会觉得这里确实缺少一种高难度的传统攀岩，与西方所取得的成就相比，很多憧憬有时得不到满足，而被之代替的是而是稳步地关注于取得相同的成果。总的来说，中国的攀岩者非常谨慎，缺少冒险精神。在安全极为重要和关锻炼身体的前提下，阿尔卑斯山高难度的传统的攀爬还有很多潜在的空间，而且对他们大岩壁舞台的尝试还只是蜻蜓点水。中国的攀岩主要是以竞赛明星开始的，所以大胆的有远见的攀岩还是不多。

With ice climbing becoming more fashionable and with a very competent climber leading the trend the Chinese have moved a step forward from the safety of the indoor wall or bolted limestone crag to the land of cold and dangerous. Slowly the alpine climbers will be more and tackling more than ridges, and the big walls of HuaShan, Sichuan and Xinjiang will see, hopefully sooner than later, Chinese ascents. Yet, one is to keep in mind that the Chinese climbers and their lifestyle are closer to the Urban Climber model than to the dirtbags of Camp 4 and that we are looking at the dawn of this sport in China.

当攀冰运动变得越来越时尚的时候，在一个非常有能力的攀冰者的带动下，中国攀岩已经迈出了一大步，把从室内安全的岩壁攀爬和有保护措施的石灰石岩壁攀爬带到寒冷和危险的冰上。慢慢地，阿尔卑式的攀岩者也将会越来越多，也会尝试更多的而不仅仅是山脊的攀爬。而且在华山，四川，新疆，希望在不久的将来，能看到中国人的大岩壁的攀爬。然而，应该记住的是：中国的攀岩者和他们的生活方式，与在camp 4的dirtbag 相比更接近城市攀岩者，并且我们都注视着这一运动在中国破晓而出！