Charlie Barrett: Of Sound Body & Mind

Charlie Barrett: Of Sound Body & Mind
Between working late night shifts at a sushi restaurant and stressing over class work, Charlie Barrett has been silently destroying the Eastside's hardest lines.

A strong mind and powerful fingertips will get you far in climbing.  Charlie Barrett has used those assets to nab the 4^th ascent of Luminance V10 and tick off some of Bishops classic highballs, such as Evilution V11 (past the lip).  It is funny how sometimes the strongest climbers may be right under your nose or if you're in the Eastside they may be prepping your next Spicy Tuna Roll.  So between shoveling the Wasabi and dropping our next Saigon Bomb (yes, that's a drink) DPM caught up with Charlie.

Photos courtesy of Wills Young

DPM:  Fill us in about where you have been climbing lately

Charlie: I've been living and climbing on the eastern sierra for the past two years, with little road trips here and there. I'm in Santa Rosa right now, my hometown, and am headed up to try Grand Illusion, I'm psyched!

DPM: You just grabbed the 4th ascent to Luminance V10 do you think the previous ascents allowed you to mentally send the line?  How does it compare to the exposure on Evilution (over the lip)?

Charlie: It was super windy the day I did Luminance so I didn't have much time to really think about much. We just set the pads up and I went for it. I don't really think the previous ascents helped inspire confidence in me to send it, I just know myself well enough to know I could climb it. I do think Luminance is a little scarier than either of the Evilutions. The crux of Luminance is holding this really powerful swing and if you were to come off at the apex of the swing you'd fall 15-20 feet into a rocky ravine, most likely on your face. But with Evilution the landings flat and it's a lot easier to pad.

DPM: You seem to have a really strong head for hard highballs how do you train for the exposure or do you seemly go at it?  Do you consider the consequences if you botch a highball?

Charlie: I used to solo a lot and have been highballing for a long time so I guess I'm just used to being up there. I've always been attracted to the higher problems; they seem to stand out a little more. I love the feeling you get about 10 feet and above, it's amazing, I feel like I'm actually climbing, not just playing around, my senses just seem a little more in tune up there.

DPM: Have you ever been seriously hurt while highballing at any time?

Charlie: Yeah, once, watching Kevin do ambrosia, I almost ralphed.

Photos courtesy of Wills Young

DPM: You have ticked off some of the East Sides hardest is there anything in the Buttermilks that motivates you or are you looking elsewhere?

Charlie: I'm psyched on Beautiful and the Damned but the bottom moves seem heinous, I can't crimp. Spectres high on the list. There's not too much left in Bishop that really inspires me, I just love being at the milks with good friends, enjoying the day. I'm always looking elsewhere for the new high lines; I've got a few undone highballs left in Joshua tree that need to go. I'd really like to go to Font, that place has always inspired me.

DPM: Favorite line of all time, not the hardest, but favorite and why?

Charlie: For a boulder problem? I'd have to say Midnight Lightning, its history, first climbed by my heroes, it's beautiful, nice rock and cool moves. As for a route? That's impossible, it's like playing who would you rather do, but butterballs is the first thing that comes to mind, Blues Riff, Roof Cracks like Desert Gold and Separate Reality really inspire me.

DPM: Do you train at a gym or is climbing outside your training grounds?  What does your typical climbing day consist of?

Charlie: I haven't climbed in the gym much at all in the past 6 years. I've noticed I haven't gotten any stronger but I've got memories and friends from being on the road that I won't trade for anything. Yeah I can't crimp and haven't been paid to go to Europe but meeting people like Jess, Chris, Thomo, Jorden's mom, James and Brandon and knowing where all the best swimming holes and In N Out Burgers are somehow seem to make up for it.

DPM: You seem to mostly boulder but we know you can tick off hard climbs on a rope, when do you decide to make the switch or is it a day to day thing?

Charlie: I love climbing, I don't just do one thing; I love it all. I love pushing myself, whether it'd be bouldering, cracks or sport. I love being in the mountains as well; you're just as likely to see me up on Cathedral Peak as you are to catch me bouldering at the Happy Boulders. I've always felt a little out of place with the new school kids who climb in the gym 11 months out of the year then come out to the boulders looking for the hardest problems, that's not me, climbing means a lot more to me than just sending the hardest routes, to me it's about having fun, friends and enjoying life. I wouldn't like climbing so much if all you did was go out and try to do the hardest things.   

Photos courtesy of Wills Young

DPM: Climbing is costly, how do you make ends meet, and which sponsors help you out?

Charlie: Right now in between school and road trips I travel back to Santa Rosa to work at the gym. During the winter I work at my good friend Jason's restaurant in Mammoth Lakes, Sushi Rei, its rad he's a climber so the menu looks like a guidebook. Try the Saigon Bombs, they're delicious! As for sponsors, I've tried to get sponsored before but it never seems to work out, I like to do my own thing, like who wants to sponsor a climber who goes out and climbs 4th class just as often as he boulders? It seems sponsors are looking for the next Sharma, someone who crushes, gym climbers, that's not me. 

DPM: You are sponsored by Bachar's brand of shoes correct?  Did he pass anything down to you?

Charlie: Yes and yes. Acopa, we've had a rough couple of years.  Bachar past a lot down to me tons of great stories, beta, shoes, encouragement and best of all his friendship. I got to know him well in the last 6 years of his life and losing him was not only losing a friend and personal hero but a powerful reminder of how real and precious life is. He taught me to be who I am and not to care about what others think about you and to remember why I climb, to enjoy life the way it should be, free.