Adapt: Lessons Learned Climbing 100 5.13's

by Kris Hampton

How do you become the best climber you can be?

You dream big. You plan your trip and pack your bag. You get on the climb. You try. You make mistakes. You adjust. You fall off and pull back on and fall off again. You care enough to ask why. You learn.

You adapt. Over and over again.

Starting with the inflection point that eventually led to his goal to climb one hundred 5.13’s, climbing coach Kris Hampton, in Adapt, digs deep into the decisions made, hurdles confronted, and lessons learned. He highlights his mistakes as well as his successes, and offers ways that we can set valuable goals and avoid those same pitfalls.

With failure and improvement as his catalysts, Kris reached that goal on the morning of his 50th birthday.

“Through it all, I’ve dreamed. I’ve tried. I’ve made mistakes and tried again. I’ve asked why. I’ve learned a lot of lessons. I’ve adapted.”

This is that story. These are those lessons.

Genres: Climbing

145 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kris never misses. I loved all the personal stories, lessons, and tidbits of advice. I love that he calls the reader out and makes me self-reflect on my own blind spots and shortcomings. I especially love that interwoven in this journey are the stories of people who have been there along the way; so many of those moments made me smile. Loved the foreword and how it tied in to the story—and the book cover! How special.

High quality, yet quick read that I am sure to revisit time and time again for those hard truths and great perspectives.

[Caleb Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm an indoor boulderer. This book is largely about outdoor sport climbing. But I still loved it.

I'm always hungry for writing that exists within the context of climbing but focuses more on the personal journey of the author. (I even play in this space with my own bouldering newsletter at https://sendship.substack.com.) Kris Hampton’s Adapt is exactly that. While the specifics of his climbs aren’t directly relevant to me, the struggle, the optimism, and the pithy-yet-honest advice are deeply relatable.

The table of contents reads like a list of mantras—handy reminders any climber can draw from when feeling weak, tired, or discouraged about their progress: Get over yourself. Preparation affords confidence. Stronger is the wrong answer. Changing constraints are new opportunities. Comparison didn’t steal anything. And on and on.

In fact, I’m going to keep a photo of the table of contents with me to pull out whenever I feel lost at the gym and need a little guidance.

[Jonathan Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very human book from a wise man. The book is as much a journal of his venture to 100 5.13’s as it is a collection of essays about being your personal best. It reads like Kris wrote it for himself, and we readers benefit from his vantage point. As I often find from his podcast and writings, the lessons are applied to how he climbed at his best but could just as well pertain to business or life.
Having met Kris when I first moved to Cincinnati 20+ years ago, I’m shocked to learn that when I honed my passion for lead climbing and was beginning to project 5.11s and 5.12s, this was at the same time that he started to train seriously for sport climbing and was at about the same ability I was. I’ve always thought of him as climbing and training at a different level. To learn that we were physically at a similar state at a common point in time (while mentally he was always leaps and bounds beyond me) is a microcosm of what he preaches about the different life conditions and choices that we make (this comparison brings me happiness btw). Adapt is really about how we become the best of ourselves, and what we choose to spend time becoming best at. Thinking of other friends mentioned in the book and who have been on his podcast, I find myself wondering “what if” - how I would be a different person and how my life would be today if I had dedicated myself to reaching 5.13 level (among a plethora of other what if choices)?

[Cody Kaemmerlen · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 times out of 10, on the way to the crag, Kris will say “Man, I read this thing and it made me think about…” or “I was listening to this hip-hop track, and it reminded me of…” and 30 minutes later, we’re deep into an examination of one of the many essays in Adapt.

It’s fun as sin to read them here, to dig even deeper into his wisdom (yes, that is a euphemism for “old man shit”) told through climbing, but learned through that and so much more. Kris writes in his voice, and it’s like your friend/coach/climbing partner are talking straight to you- giving you the cards to play when you need to draw something from your hand be the best climber (and climbing partner, friend, family member, community member, etc…) you can be.

There’s no ego here. This is not (just) about his journey. It’s about the journey he hopes you, too, can have. In climbing. In life.

Read it. It’s fucking great.

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Solid good essays. Made for an easy and low commitment read that I could pick up sporadically

[Jordan Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a definite step-up from the hard truth. Kris's voice shines through and I quite liked the narrative structure amid the lessons.