Everyone knows that the Touchstone Comp Series promises a good time. For Holly Webb the comps also provide a welcome reprise from everyday work and a chance to enjoy the Touchstone community. Webb travels from Arizona just to climb at the comps. She spoke a bit with the Touchstone blog about her commitment.
“I’m an ordinary person,” said Holly Webb, a 39 year old CPA who lives on the North rim of the Grand Canyon with her husband, who works for the National Park Service. “I just get really psyched sometimes.” Webb spent much of her time in California, where she used her 17 years of climbing experience to climb El Capitan 35 times via 25 different routes, including two solos of Yosemite’s immense formation. Living near the Grand Canyon has kept her away from climbing though.
“It’s kind of depressing. Ever since I moved away, it’s been a little bit hard to stay in the game and keep my psych,” said Webb who learned to climb in Seattle before moving to Yosemite and most recently the Grand Canyon. To battle the doldrums, Webb headed to Diablo Rock Gym last year. Webb manages a rental unit in Yosemite West and her neighbor, Diablo Rock Gym manager Hans Florine suggested she take the Diablo challenge. The competitive Webb thought, “I’m gonna do it and beat Hans at his own numbers game!”
Webb began ticking off the challenges. Weather closed down her North Rim home for the winter so she traveled on the road and fought her way through the challenges. From running a marathon, learning to hula hoop to running across the Golden Gate Bridge, Webb found an amazing variety of different challenges to do. “I tried spinning and I went to spinning class twice a week for 2 weeks. I tried Crossfit and hated it. I tried all this stuff that made me grow,” said Webb. The list pushed Webb to do nearly 300 challenges including 66 challenges in a single day. “Holly rocks it! She came in last year and completed more challenges then anyone else in my gym!” said Florine.
Performing so many activities in a day: doing double jumps with the jump rope, climbing 70 boulder problems, running 400 meters in 90 seconds, climbing in three different gyms in a day and other feats left her exhausted. She won a year membership to Touchstone for her efforts but felt tired. The feat changed her perspective on what she would do next.
One of the challenges was to climb at a Touchstone comp. “It was so awesome,” said Webb who went to the Pipeworks comp in 2013. “It was so fun bouldering with these people I didn’t know.” The comp and the exhausting effort of the DRG challenge changed Webb’s goal for the following year. “When they announced LA.B and opened the new TCS format, I decided one of the things I wanted to do in 2014 is go to every comp,” said Webb who has made good on her vow to date. Though she’s only climbed four times in the gym this year, each time has been at one of the Touchstone comps. She’s flown in for the various climbing competitions.
“For people looking to participate in Touchstone comps, or climbing in the gym in general, relationships are a good reason to be a part of the gym. I have several new friends made at the gym and people I look forward to seeing at each of the comps,” said Webb. The best part of the whole experience for Webb has been the community that she has met. “I could not have done all these challenges by myself. The great majority required teamwork, and mostly with people I had not met before.”
Webb will be moving back to California the summer and will be able to drive to the last two TCS comps instead of flying.
