As an adaptive climber I was really intrigued when I first read about Rand Abbott in the LA Times. The article wasn’t even about climbing. Rand was recognized for taking the initiative to help keep Joshua Tree National Park clean during the government shutdown of 2018. The title Meet the Paraplegic Rock Climber Keeping Joshua Tree National Park was what drew me in. Another paraplegic rock climber, I needed to know more. I was so thrilled when I finally got to talk to Rand. After what I learned during this interview, I also hope to go climbing with him someday.
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Enock: I know as a person with a disability who also climbs, it can be annoying or off-putting when people cheer for you way over the top. I ran an adaptive climbing program for a while and some people would act as if they were a cheerleader while people were climbing. In that sense what are your thoughts on the way you are treated now versus as an able-bodied climber?
For the most part, I have been treated well. I have always tried to climb as close to an able-body climber as possible, within reason. I haul my own gear and I push to climbs in my wheelchair. This is all a personal choice. On some climbs I will have an anchor slung to the edge of the climb (none bolted climbs). These climbs are too blank and on an angle or pitch that is risky for me. People have told me, “you did not top out.” I just laugh - I just climbed a 5.11 or a 5.12, did over 400 pull ups, and your criticizing me. I have been told I am not a real climber because I aid climb. Hmm… What is the definition of a real climber? I have been told, “I climb ok for a cripple.” |
Rand leading Roof Riff Raff, Joshua Tree, CA
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There are climbs in Joshua Tree that I have been told I CAN NOT DO. My aid climbing might alter the integrity of the climb. Hmm, I wonder what Jim Bridwell would say to that?
I had a local owner of one of the guide companies tell me some one held him back from wanting to yank me off a climb that I was doing because I was hammering in a Rurp [piton]. This same person said it is not possible for me to become guide certified.
But then there are the 100, if not 1000, of people who are amazed that I lead climb as a person with a Spinal Chord Injury (SCI.) I have made so many dear close friends through climbing. And in their words, they describe me as Rand the bad-ass aid climber who is doing A3 A4/ 5.11, 5.12, 5.13+ climbs. Oh and he is in a wheelchair. It’s not Rand the paralyzed climber.
I had a local owner of one of the guide companies tell me some one held him back from wanting to yank me off a climb that I was doing because I was hammering in a Rurp [piton]. This same person said it is not possible for me to become guide certified.
But then there are the 100, if not 1000, of people who are amazed that I lead climb as a person with a Spinal Chord Injury (SCI.) I have made so many dear close friends through climbing. And in their words, they describe me as Rand the bad-ass aid climber who is doing A3 A4/ 5.11, 5.12, 5.13+ climbs. Oh and he is in a wheelchair. It’s not Rand the paralyzed climber.
Rand on the Bachar Wall, Joshua Tree, CA
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Enock: I know as a person with a disability, I want to be treated like everyone else. I want to be a climber not an adaptive climber. I want to be talked to as a human not as someone who is fragile. How do you want to be treated?
As a normal climber who has a passion for climbing and pushes it. Who loves the wilderness, and just likes to climb and surf. Enock: When I got into climbing it was due to the loss of a friend and the desire to honor that friend. Can you tell us why you got into climbing in the first place? Rand: I started climbing as a teenager, just loved the challenge and the thrill. While in the military I came to 29 Palms and found Joshua Tree National Park. I was in heaven. Then I was stationed overseas Okinawa. Cliff climbing over the water was amazing. Then back stateside in the late 80 and Joshua Tree became my playground along with Yosemite and a couple other places. What got me back into climbing after my injury? I Met Mark Wellman skiing in Colorado. Mark asked why I wasn’t climbing. I responded I am paralyzed! Mark said, “So am I but I did it.” That was the start of getting back to climbing. |
I was tired of being told by doctors and nurses and physical therapist WHAT I COULD NOT DO. I started jugging lines and cleaning the gear. Then I believe I was talking with Todd Gordon and Jim Bridwell and I said I wanted to lead climb.
Jugging lines and getting to the top or just on the rock AGAIN was amazing, fucking amazing. But I have always been a person who pushes it, thinks outside the box. I had done probably 30 to 50 climbs jugging up and cleaning, and 3 or 4 multi pitches. But I wanted to lead climb and be on the edge and rely on my ability and my gear. Whippers are part of climbing hard. And believe me I have had my share of big whippers as a paralyzed climber -- and injuries.
While in the hospital after my SCI. I made a pledge a promise to myself. MY DISABILITY WAS NOT GOING TO DEFINE MY LIFESTYLE.
When I am climbing, I am not thinking about my spinal cord injury, or my TBI or any of that. I am in that quiet zone, figuring out the climb. There is no BETA for how I climb. It’s all new and all fresh and on the edge.
How do a handle this traverse? Or this roof? Or how do I mantle this ledge? Or handle this climb trying to barn door me right or left? The approaches can also be a real challenge along with aid climbing on a cam hook or a rurp. Oh, I love it, you're on the edge.Especially on lead heads or copper heads. Or old fixed gear. I love it - call me crazy.
I remember a climb I was doing with Todd Gordon and Jim Bridwell. Jim was belaying me with no harness. I got ready to climb and he looked at me and smiled and said, “You know Rand, people die climbing.” The he smiled. He also said climbing was more fun on LSD, but I have not experienced that.
Jugging lines and getting to the top or just on the rock AGAIN was amazing, fucking amazing. But I have always been a person who pushes it, thinks outside the box. I had done probably 30 to 50 climbs jugging up and cleaning, and 3 or 4 multi pitches. But I wanted to lead climb and be on the edge and rely on my ability and my gear. Whippers are part of climbing hard. And believe me I have had my share of big whippers as a paralyzed climber -- and injuries.
While in the hospital after my SCI. I made a pledge a promise to myself. MY DISABILITY WAS NOT GOING TO DEFINE MY LIFESTYLE.
When I am climbing, I am not thinking about my spinal cord injury, or my TBI or any of that. I am in that quiet zone, figuring out the climb. There is no BETA for how I climb. It’s all new and all fresh and on the edge.
How do a handle this traverse? Or this roof? Or how do I mantle this ledge? Or handle this climb trying to barn door me right or left? The approaches can also be a real challenge along with aid climbing on a cam hook or a rurp. Oh, I love it, you're on the edge.Especially on lead heads or copper heads. Or old fixed gear. I love it - call me crazy.
I remember a climb I was doing with Todd Gordon and Jim Bridwell. Jim was belaying me with no harness. I got ready to climb and he looked at me and smiled and said, “You know Rand, people die climbing.” The he smiled. He also said climbing was more fun on LSD, but I have not experienced that.
First paralyzed ascent of Spyder Line, Joshua Tree National Park, California
Enock: Throughout my life I have had the opportunity to be involved with many adaptive organizations and still am to this day. I got into climbing through Paradox Sports and skiing with Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation.
What are some of the organizations and causes you are involved with and why?
Rand: I work with a couple nonprofit organizations who bring Veterans out to Joshua Tree for climbing. Gallant Few and Raider Project. I also take people with disabilities out climbing. But one of my passions is protecting Joshua Tree National Park and educating visitors on stewardship and LEAVING IT BETTER THAN WE FOUND IT.
I recently got involved with MIL-Tree a local nonprofit that works with Veterans.
Right V Crack, Joshua Tree National Park, California
Enock: Unfortunately, I don’t live near a great climbing area like Joshua Tree National Park, so I have a workout routine that I do in a gym to keep in shape. Do you have a training routine for your sports?
Rand: I work out in the gym, at least three days a week for about three hours a day. Upper body, shoulders, back arms. There is a stationary pull down resistant rope I do an hour on. Lead climbing requires me to do one handed pull ups and lock it out while placing the next piece of gear. My training is strength and endurance based.
I push three to five miles a day through the sand and dirt of the desert. Getting to climbs is all in the dirt with a 75 lb. haul bag on my back.
I also swim and surf a lot.
Enock: I often find that people have certain things that get them in the mood to really push hard such as music.
Do you listen to certain music to get you pumped and if so what?
Rand: When I am Rope Soloing, I listen to music. Theory (Wake Up Call), Sublime, Social D, Nine Inch Nails, Guns and Roses.
Enock: With my many years of life spent in hospitals, I definitely have a lot of stories to tell.
Are there any funny stories of observations you have made in rehab or since being injured about the differences between life now as opposed to walking?
Rand: Oh, there are a lot. I have taken a couple good whippers and pooped my pants from the impact.
Took a 30-foot zipper on a 5.12. It had rained for about three or four days and on the first day of no rain I went out to climb. Worked through a bitch of a chimney and came up to a ledge I had to mantle up. There was a 10-foot run out with no PRO placements only cam hooks. Got up on the ledge and then there was a roof. Again, no real pro. Got to the edge of the roof and there was a number 1 placement and it looked solid. There was a flake to the right that went vertical with a left to high slant. With deep placement for a #1 and #2 cam. It was over hanging. I laced a number 1 BD and started hand and fist gaming in the deep flake. Then the flake broke loose! I’m air born. I see clouds and blue sky and I think to myself I’m inverted. Then I see the ground and I say OH SHIT I’M UPSIDE DOWN AND FALLING! My hammer hits me and all my gear starts clanging. I fall into the chimney and bounce around like a pinball in a machine. I get knocked.
Then I was climbing horse and Buggy, with Todd Gordon belaying me. It’s a 5.11 I think and a amazing climb. It’s a pinching vertical dihedral that only take small RP’s. I am about 40 to 50 feet up and hanging on a cam hook and look down and my knees and feet had unlodged all my gear, it was at the bottom of the climb. I was 40 to 50 feet up on a fucking cam hook!
Do you listen to certain music to get you pumped and if so what?
Rand: When I am Rope Soloing, I listen to music. Theory (Wake Up Call), Sublime, Social D, Nine Inch Nails, Guns and Roses.
Enock: With my many years of life spent in hospitals, I definitely have a lot of stories to tell.
Are there any funny stories of observations you have made in rehab or since being injured about the differences between life now as opposed to walking?
Rand: Oh, there are a lot. I have taken a couple good whippers and pooped my pants from the impact.
Took a 30-foot zipper on a 5.12. It had rained for about three or four days and on the first day of no rain I went out to climb. Worked through a bitch of a chimney and came up to a ledge I had to mantle up. There was a 10-foot run out with no PRO placements only cam hooks. Got up on the ledge and then there was a roof. Again, no real pro. Got to the edge of the roof and there was a number 1 placement and it looked solid. There was a flake to the right that went vertical with a left to high slant. With deep placement for a #1 and #2 cam. It was over hanging. I laced a number 1 BD and started hand and fist gaming in the deep flake. Then the flake broke loose! I’m air born. I see clouds and blue sky and I think to myself I’m inverted. Then I see the ground and I say OH SHIT I’M UPSIDE DOWN AND FALLING! My hammer hits me and all my gear starts clanging. I fall into the chimney and bounce around like a pinball in a machine. I get knocked.
Then I was climbing horse and Buggy, with Todd Gordon belaying me. It’s a 5.11 I think and a amazing climb. It’s a pinching vertical dihedral that only take small RP’s. I am about 40 to 50 feet up and hanging on a cam hook and look down and my knees and feet had unlodged all my gear, it was at the bottom of the climb. I was 40 to 50 feet up on a fucking cam hook!
Rand on Wanger Banger, Joshua Tree, California (first paralyzed ascent)
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Enock: I think what really motivates me to climb hard is the feeling of risk and reward. I love the risk and the adrenaline, but I also love the reward at the end of the accomplishment and view of the area I am climbing.
What really motivates you to climb hard? Rand: The thrill of being right on the edge, there is an inherent risk to climbing and climbing with just your arms. AID CLIMBING has other inherent risks. I am an adrenaline junky - always have been. But sitting there on the ground looking at the rock, the climb. Getting in the zone of figuring out the gear and the moves of a new climb. Everything gets quiet - you’re in that special place it’s you and the climb nothing else, there is no beta for paralyzed climbing it new. It is exciting it real. Then you start the climb, you’re in the first bubble of the climb, cam hook , cam hook, rurp, talk then a pro piece of gear, iffy hook on it rest get the next ten feet figured out in your mind, then gear hock hammer a piton to a rurp. I am getting pumped talking about it. The arms are pumping your focused and on edge, but at the same time you are relaxed and smiling, not a worry in the world. YOU’RE LIVING LIFE – YOU’RE CLIMBING, YOU’RE ALIVE. LIFE IS NOT ABOUT ADDING DAYS TO YOUR LIFE, IT’S ABOUT ADDING LIFE TO YOUR DAY. |
Enock: I have had many people influence my direction in life but my biggest influence was my junior high phys ed teacher, Bob Dyer. What person has had the biggest influence on your climbing?
Rand: Locally Todd Gordon and Joe Deluca, they push me keep safe and support me as a paralyzed climber. Joe has helped me design my climbing technique gear.
Tommy Caldwell - the dude lost his finger and climbs like it’s no big deal.
Rand: Locally Todd Gordon and Joe Deluca, they push me keep safe and support me as a paralyzed climber. Joe has helped me design my climbing technique gear.
Tommy Caldwell - the dude lost his finger and climbs like it’s no big deal.
Enock: My biggest and most excellent adventure to date would have to be climbing El Capitan.
What’s your most excellent adventure (climbing trip) so far?
Rand: Spyder Line, Course and Buggy, Wanger Banger, Lost Pencil, Dihedron, Tonnage – to name a few.
Enock: I have so many things on my tick list I am not sure I will live long enough to make it happen but its good to have goals. Whats next on your tick list?
Rand: Get guide certified and multi pitch guide certified. Climb El Capitan -- be the first paralyzed climber to aid climb El Cap
What’s your most excellent adventure (climbing trip) so far?
Rand: Spyder Line, Course and Buggy, Wanger Banger, Lost Pencil, Dihedron, Tonnage – to name a few.
Enock: I have so many things on my tick list I am not sure I will live long enough to make it happen but its good to have goals. Whats next on your tick list?
Rand: Get guide certified and multi pitch guide certified. Climb El Capitan -- be the first paralyzed climber to aid climb El Cap
First paralyzed ascent, Wanger Banger, Joshua Tree, CA
Enock: Adaptive climbing and climbing in general usually takes at least two people. As adaptive climbers we sometimes need a bit of help to make it happen. I know I have had many people help me over the years to make all of my crazy ideas happen. Who has really helped you most?
Todd Gordon has really been the one to get me climbing a lot of days.
Full Moon in Joshua Tree, CA
Todd Gordon on Rand:
Local Joshua Tree, CA legend, Todd Gordon, shares a few thoughts on climbing with Rand.
Who is Rand as a climber?
Todd: I have climbed a bunch of days with Rand...they were all very fun and interesting. Rand goes for it on the lead. He is ballsy, but he's no fool. Aid climbing is a slow go, so when we go out climbing it's for most of the day, which is fine with me. Aid climbing is always busy and engaging, and we always have lots to chat about. I look forward to lots more awesome days out with Rand.
How did this whole thing start?
I met Rand through a friend who worked at Nomad Ventures climbing store in Joshua tree. I contacted Rand and we arranged a day out climbing. We did one climb I think, where he jumared and ascended a climb I led. We had talked about him experimenting with lead climbing with adjustable daisies. It was a hot day in the desert, and we were on uncharted ground. Things started out slow, awkward, tedious, strenuous, but we were pretty stoked that Rand's systems were working!
We went out again soon, and things went much better, faster, quicker, and we both soon realized that Rand can be one of the only paralyzed lead climbers on Earth! Most of all, Rand was having a great time - and so was I. Rand had climbed before he was in a wheelchair, but mostly free and his aid experience was with legs that can STAND in aiders. Things were different now, but Rand was beyond psyched to adapt to his new systems and challenges. After his first few leads as a paralyzed climber, he was climbing a lot - refining and defining his systems and getting much faster and efficient. He has had a few "bumps" along the way. He fell lead climbing with local hard man Joe Deluca, pinballing down a chimney. On less than overhanging rock, his legs can pull out pieces as he drags his body with the rock.
While leading a steep thin crack on RPS, as he moved up, his legs were pulling out pieces as he climbed. When he figured out this, he was a ways up a pitch with most of his pieces pulled out, but there was a photographer nearby who swung over and had him a "back up"so if things went too far south, he wouldn't deck!
Rand is kind, friendly, psyched, shares a lot with the climbing community, and is ready to go and organized with his climbing. He is an inspiration to handicapped individuals as to just how far one can push and Excel in a rad and fun challenge. Rand is an inspiration for those who can walk and use their legs to appreciate and be grateful for our individual opportunities for fun and adventure! Rand also has lots of big plans and never-ending adventures ahead. He ain't Superman, but he's a badass climber and humble with his accomplishments and always willing to share whatever he has with others!
Todd: I have climbed a bunch of days with Rand...they were all very fun and interesting. Rand goes for it on the lead. He is ballsy, but he's no fool. Aid climbing is a slow go, so when we go out climbing it's for most of the day, which is fine with me. Aid climbing is always busy and engaging, and we always have lots to chat about. I look forward to lots more awesome days out with Rand.
How did this whole thing start?
I met Rand through a friend who worked at Nomad Ventures climbing store in Joshua tree. I contacted Rand and we arranged a day out climbing. We did one climb I think, where he jumared and ascended a climb I led. We had talked about him experimenting with lead climbing with adjustable daisies. It was a hot day in the desert, and we were on uncharted ground. Things started out slow, awkward, tedious, strenuous, but we were pretty stoked that Rand's systems were working!
We went out again soon, and things went much better, faster, quicker, and we both soon realized that Rand can be one of the only paralyzed lead climbers on Earth! Most of all, Rand was having a great time - and so was I. Rand had climbed before he was in a wheelchair, but mostly free and his aid experience was with legs that can STAND in aiders. Things were different now, but Rand was beyond psyched to adapt to his new systems and challenges. After his first few leads as a paralyzed climber, he was climbing a lot - refining and defining his systems and getting much faster and efficient. He has had a few "bumps" along the way. He fell lead climbing with local hard man Joe Deluca, pinballing down a chimney. On less than overhanging rock, his legs can pull out pieces as he drags his body with the rock.
While leading a steep thin crack on RPS, as he moved up, his legs were pulling out pieces as he climbed. When he figured out this, he was a ways up a pitch with most of his pieces pulled out, but there was a photographer nearby who swung over and had him a "back up"so if things went too far south, he wouldn't deck!
Rand is kind, friendly, psyched, shares a lot with the climbing community, and is ready to go and organized with his climbing. He is an inspiration to handicapped individuals as to just how far one can push and Excel in a rad and fun challenge. Rand is an inspiration for those who can walk and use their legs to appreciate and be grateful for our individual opportunities for fun and adventure! Rand also has lots of big plans and never-ending adventures ahead. He ain't Superman, but he's a badass climber and humble with his accomplishments and always willing to share whatever he has with others!