The Dance Between Fire and Flow: Chris Sharma's Inner Journey with Climbing

There's a moment in every climber's journey when the sport transcends athleticism and becomes something deeper - a practice, a meditation, a way of being. For Chris Sharma, that transformation has sustained him through 32 years of climbing, turning what could have been a brief athletic career into a lifelong spiritual practice.

 

The Inner Fire and the Sacred Balance

Watching Sharma climb, observers often note a paradox: the man who appears so peaceful and zen-like off the rock transforms into something fierce and primal when engaging with stone. "I come across as very peaceful and easygoing, but then you see me come alive on the rock and going for it and yelling," he acknowledges with a laugh.

This duality isn't a contradiction, it's essential to his practice. "We all have these different elements in our personalities, different emotions or energies," he explains. "Having an outlet like climbing is incredible to be able to channel that energy."

Sharma views this inner fire as necessary fuel. "If everything is just perfect, then maybe we wouldn't do anything. We'd just sit here and enjoy this beautiful day." Instead, climbing becomes a constructive way to harness what he calls "that inner angst," transforming restless energy into something beautiful and purposeful.

The Art of Listening to Stone

In a sport obsessed with coaches and training protocols, Sharma has found his greatest teacher in the rock itself. "I've never had a coach, but I've always felt that the rock or the route I'm working on is my coach," he reveals. "Those climbs show you where your weaknesses are. They show you where you need to get better."

This relationship with stone goes beyond physical instruction - it's a conversation about character, persistence, and self-awareness. "Dealing with that failure, dealing with the frustration, the ups and downs all contribute to progression, which goes beyond just climbing a harder grade."

For Sharma, this progression is about "mastering our craft" in the deepest sense. "It becomes how we express ourselves," he explains. The rock becomes both canvas and mirror, reflecting back not just physical capabilities but emotional and spiritual development.

The Rhythm of Inspiration and Rest

Perhaps most remarkably, Sharma has never forced his relationship with climbing. "When the motivation comes, I go climbing. If it's not there, maybe I won't climb," he says simply. This organic approach has preserved what many athletes lose: pure love for their sport.

"I've never forced anything," he emphasizes. "I think it's kept my relationship with climbing very pure, very authentic." This authenticity has protected him from the burnout that claims many high-level athletes.

Recently, while working on a route called "Le Blond," Sharma experienced this principle in action. "I had this day where I was like, I feel like I'm forcing it a little bit too much." Rather than push through, he shifted to a new project and immediately felt his inspiration return. "It was amazing to feel that surge of motivation and inspiration come back into my climbing."

Reconnecting with an Old Friend

Now, three decades into his climbing journey, Sharma describes each session as "reconnecting with an old friend." The rock has become a constant companion through life's changes including marriage, fatherhood, business ventures, and the inevitable process of aging.

"It's like something that's so familiar, a way that I reconnect with myself, with my body," he explains. This familiarity breeds not contempt but deeper appreciation. "You can have a deeper and deeper connection with those moves, with the movement, with your actual understanding and appreciation for climbing."

The Spiritual Path

Sharma explicitly frames climbing as spiritual practice, comparable to martial arts or yoga. "It's constant practice, this discipline of mastering our body and our mind," he explains. "For me, climbing really is my vehicle for self-realization."

This spiritual dimension encompasses multiple layers: creativity, physical mastery, mental discipline, and the process of "taking an idea, a vision, and bringing it to fruition." Each element contributes to what he sees as never-ending growth. "It's a never-ending progression where we just keep going deeper and deeper into our understanding of ourselves and our bodies."

Choice as Sacred Act

What elevates Sharma's approach above mere hobby or even profession is his insistence on choice. "It's always a choice. I don't have to be a rock climber," he states. "But one of the things that makes it so special is that I choose to go back to it every time."

This conscious choosing transforms climbing from identity into practice. "It's not like you signed a document that says 'I'm Chris Sharma, the rock climber, and this is who I am now.' Every day we make a choice on how we want to live."

The Eternal Return

After 32 years, Sharma still finds himself "just as motivated and excited, if not more so, about climbing than when I started." This sustained passion isn't accidental but the fruit of treating climbing not as conquest but as relationship, not as achievement but as communion.

"It's really cool now looking back—this thing that I've done for over 30 years still gives me that same joy," he reflects. In a culture that constantly seeks the next thing, Sharma has found something rarer: a practice that deepens with time, a love that grows through decades of devotion.