Jim Ablao describes rock climbing as a harmony of flexibility, balance and strength; a slow, controlled sport, set apart from most other outdoor adventure activities.

”It’s slower and incredibly focused, until you fall. That’s when the fast part comes in,” says Ablao, laughing.

But falling – and being caught by the rope – is part of climbing, and, contrary to what some may believe, buffness and toughness are not required. However, mental toughness and a knack for problem solving are.

”You don’t even have to do a pull-up,” says Ablao, guide service manager at First Ascent Climbing Services in Bend and Terrebonne. ”People think you have to be lean and mean, but you really don’t. At first it’s a physical challenge and a lack of confidence. As your strength grows, you do harder climbs, and the mental challenge gets greater as you progress physically.”

And there’s no better time to practice than right now. Fall is the optimal time for rock climbing at Smith Rock State Park near Terrebonne, one of the top five premiere destinations for rock climbing in the Unites States, according to Ablao. The crowds are fewer and the weather is cooler, which is not only a comfort advantage, but a functional advantage. Climbing shoes won’t slide as much on the rock in the fall like they do in hot summer temperatures, and sweaty palms are less frequent, making hand holds easier to grip.

Smith Rock offers a ”lifetime of climbs,” according to Ablao, whether a climber is just starting out or is on the cutting edge of the sport.

The grade scale for climbing ranges from 5.0 to 5.14, with 5.0 being the easiest climb and 5.14-D being the most difficult. Each level from 5.10 to 5.14 is also classified by letters: A, B, C or D. Most beginners start at about 5.6, while only a select few of elite climbers can conquer a 5.14. Smith Rock offers climbs of nearly every level, often on the same rock face.

”That’s the neat thing about Smith Rock,” Ablao says. ”You’ll have someone climbing a 5.7 next to someone climbing a 5.12. You can hear someone sweating and grunting next to you and it might be a big-name climber who you’ve seen in magazines.”

Ablao says that Smith Rock features the greatest concentration of climbs rated 5.12 and above in the country.

”That’s what makes it stand out,” Ablao says, ”it has the highest concentration of extremely difficult routes. But the beginner and moderate routes are really high quality as well.”

Among the beginner routes that Ablao recommends is Five Gallon Buckets, one of the most popular climbs in the park.

The 5.8 route is located on the Morning Glory Wall and is named for a series of hand holds that are as big as five-gallon buckets. Ablao also recommends Easy Reader, a 5.6 located in the Dihedrals, which are a grouping of rock walls that connect at 90-degree angles.

Center stage at Smith Rock, the Dihedrals also offer some of the most challenging routes in the park. Heinous Cling is an increasingly popular 5.12, although Ablao says he thinks the reason it’s popular is because ”it’s kind of easy for a 5.12.”

Climbing routes are given grades by the first person to ascend, then the grades are confirmed or adjusted by the next few climbers on the route. The crux – the toughest move of the climb – determines the grade.

A 5.14 route called Just Do It on the Monkey Face rock formation is the most difficult route in the park right now, according to Ablao. Another 5.14 – the first ever established at Smith Rock – is named To Bolt or Not to Be and is located in the Dihedrals.

To Bolt or Not to Be was established by noted climber Jean Baptiste Tribout of France in 1986, and it was the hardest route in the United States at the time. It was featured in magazines and before long Smith Rock began to boom with rock climbers.

But before then, most of the climbing in the United States was traditional climbing, with equipment placed in cracks of the rocks as the climber ascends. But there’s just not many cracks in the rocks at Smith Rock, and there was no real traditional climbing ethic in Europe. So Europeans established routes such as To Bolt or Not to Be, and Smith Rock became the original sport climbing location in the United States.

In sport climbing – the category under which most of the climbing at Smith Rock falls – the climber uses bolts that are permanently placed in the rock and attaches the rope to these bolts on the way up. Sport climbing is more simplified and requires less equipment than traditional climbing, allowing for more focus on the climb itself.

Climbing routes are not bolted from the ground up. Rather, a climber will rappel down from the top of a possible route, determine the best possible locations for bolts, and design a well-planned route.

Ablao himself has established more than 20 routes at Smith Rock.

”It’s another way to mix it up if you do a lot of climbing,” Ablao says. ”That’s the nature of climbing anyway. That whole sense of adventure. Stepping into the unknown and trying to figure it out, and make it known.”

Nowadays at Smith Rock it can be difficult to discover a new route.

”Most of the plums have been picked,” Ablao says. ”All the beautiful-looking faces and the most ridiculous, impossible-looking faces have been bolted and climbed. But they’re such good routes that it’s still the international destination that it is.”

Creating new routes often leads to heated debate in the climbing world. Most climbers agree that routes should be kept as natural as possible, with no man-made additions to make hand holds easier to grip.

”When establishing a route, there’s a fine line between cleaning a route – shaking off and brushing the loose holds – and manufacturing it,” Ablao explains. ”That’s a really debatable thing. Someone could go to a blank face with a hammer and a chisel and make hand holds and bolt it, but that’s really bad ethics in the climbing world.

”Normally, I’m kind of conservative,” Ablao adds. If it doesn’t come off by hand, leave it alone. Chipping holds is kind of cheating. That’s the endless debate in climbing.”

Another debatable aspect of rock climbing is the grading of climbs. Are certain climbs graded too high? Too low? A new 5.14-C at Smith Rock has been climbed only once. The route, named Shock and Awe, was established and graded recently by a Canadian named Scott Milton. It’s the only new 5.14 at Smith Rock, and it’s located in Cocaine Gully next to the Morning Glory Wall.

”It’s hot on people’s lists to check out and see if he’s full of crap, or if it’s the real deal,” Ablao says. ”There’s only a handful of people who have a shot at doing it: basically the elite climbers that devote their life to climbing. You have to really love it. It’s a passion-driven sport.”

It’s that passion that drives Ablao to keep coming back for more.

”(Rock climbing) is entering a different realm with the folks around you,” he says. ”Every conversation is significant. It’s casual to a certain degree, but it really sort of keeps things real for me.”

Other climbers agree. They love the fact that climbing is a sport in which physical fitness and mental stamina both come into play. And the satisfaction of reaching the top is always well worth the climb.

”It’s a sport that uses your entire body,” says Greg Ketner, a recreational climber from Bend. ”But you have to think as well as be physically fit. It’s using your body in different ways to get past a problem.

”It’s not a team sport. If you get to the top of the climb, YOU did it. Plus, the view is awesome.”

But if you don’t make it to the top, Ablao offers an enticing alternative.

”It’s all about going for the challenge,” he says. ”If you can’t do it, that’s what the ropes are for … go home and have a beer.”

For more information, log on to Smithrock.com. For a guided outing at Smith Rock, call First Ascent at 548-5137.

Mark Morical is a sports staff writer for The Bulletin. He can be reached at 383-0318 or mmorical@bendbulletin.com.