Climbing
OFF THE WALL 2
"Player" Profile: BJ TILDEN


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The Flame (V12), Hueco Tanks
photo: Jim Meyers

What are your goals in climbing?
I guess my main goal in climbing is just to see what my mind and body are capable of. I feel like I am still improving every year, so I want to see how far that can go. I would like to find more time for sport climbing and see what 5.14+ is all about. I always get time off in the winter, so most of my traveling is for bouldering. But I would like to travel for routes. 

Do you do competitions?
I have done a few competitions. Mostly just small local comps like the Wyoming bouldering series that 307 Bouldering puts on every winter. The series is just a comp in every town with a gym over three months of winter. It's great because everyone in the state gets together every two weeks to boulder. I did the Sendfest at the summer OR tradeshow. I had never done a comp like that before, but it was pretty fun. Probably the most intense 25 minutes of bouldering I've ever done. I'm psyched to give it another burn, knowing what I know now. 

Can you be a strong competition climber, but a weak rock climber?
Absolutely. They are two totally different games. The biggest difference for me is that in a comp you have to get it done right then. There's no coming back when you feel a little better. Outside, the route or boulder problem isn't going anywhere, so you can always come back. Although I do have a habit of waiting until the last minute to send something. I guess a deadline helps to really focus in and get things done. During the 2005 trip to Hueco, I ended up doing Woman With a Hueco in Her Head (V10), Power of Silence (V10), and Bleeding Brothers (V12) all on my last day there. 

Is it hard to maintain the techniques and skills learned in sport-climbing and bouldering individually at the same time? (I.e., is it difficult to be a good sport-climber [5.14] and a good boulderer [V12] at the same time?)
I think you can definitely learn things bouldering that you can apply to routes and vice versa, but for me there is a transition period between bouldering hard and climbing hard routes. I guess it's mostly stamina, because I can see being in route shape and sending a hard boulder problem, but I can't see climbing 5.14 straight off of two months in the gym and a month in Hueco. All the moves feel easy, but I can only do five in a row. Plus, too much bouldering makes you forget how to climb efficiently. I guess I'm old school because I still think of bouldering as outdoor training for routes: fun as hell, but not quite as serious. 



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