Back in the day I worked in a climbing gym. One evening as KJ and I set beginner and youth routes for the next day’s sport climbing comp I had the opportunity to set next to former world champion and all around badass climber Katie Brown. She was then a ‘retired’ climber and full time college student helping to set the expert level routes for the gym.
For those of you outside the climbing community, in the 90s Katie Brown set the climbing world on fire. This quiet young woman took on the male dominated climbing world of the day. As a teenager she set new standards and dealt with a lot of blow back from the wounded egos of men around the country and world. If she could climb it (at five feet tall) a climb’s grade was often reevaluated. If Katie did it, the dudes reasoned it couldn’t be as hard as they thought. Afterall the dominant ideology in climbing of those days was that you had to have a long reach and overwhelming power to be an elite climber. And yet, Katie Brown went about her work, climbing most of the hardest routes of the day.
Of course the young men in our gym also setting expert routes needed to assuage their ego by challenging her to climb their masterpieces. Graciously accepting the challenge with a knowing eye roll of ‘hear we go again’ she put on her shoes, chalked up, and tied in. With a quick look at the route in front of her, Katie Brown flowed up the wall stringing together moves no one considered and using the holds in ways nobody thought possible. Back on the ground, she smiled and said thank you to a dumbfounded dude who could only mumble, “How… You… What the…” etc. Katie Brown’s genius response has stayed with me for decades…
“It’s not a question of reach. It’s a question of imagination.”
This simple yet elegant statement set my brain into a tizzy. Sure she was talking about using foot holds for handholds and bolt holes for footholds, but reach versus imagination applies to SO much outside of school.
Outside of climbing reach involves using your advantages to skip steps on the most obvious path forward. It means doing what you’re told and following the well worn road laid out for you. Imagination involves deconstructing the prescribed path and reconfiguring the pieces into a different path. Essentially using what’s in front of you in new ways. The public applauds what they see as ‘natural’ ability but scrutinizes innovation.
In climbing, people consider a long reach advantageous since you can often skip more compact moves. Those same people often frown upon imagination since the imaginative climber usually rearrange or avoid the dictated sequence of moves. The community rewards reach and ridicules magination. Schools do the same.
Imagination > Reach is a spin off of ‘by any means necessary.’ For many students traditional learning seems like a ‘what’s next’ competition. Schools love such students. Yet other students ask questions and can’t help but look around before asking, “what if I…” Schools frown on these students. Standardized assessments definitely do not reward creativity and imagination. Perhaps we, as educators, need to support the development of imaginative learning for our students. Part of teaching means helping students see what is possible and what they are capable of as students and people. We help students look at things from new perspectives and support skill development so they see new pathways forward.
Normally in these articles this is where I try to drop in something smart sounding or a shameless plug for Do.Think.Learn. Today however I wonder what would happen if I replaced ‘reach’ with words like ‘smart ‘ or ‘strong.’ Maybe imagination can circumvent preconceived limitations. So all I can manage right now is to suggest you go out and get creative in reaching new heights. Try to see new lines in your world or connect the dots in new ways and see what happens.
NOTE: In recent years Katie Brown has told more of her story outside of climbing in interviews and most recently in her memoir - Unraveled: A Climber’s Journey Through Darkness and Back.