Most of us have had that teacher. The teacher who inspires us to be relentless in our pursuit. The teacher who transforms from a facilitator to an influence. The teacher who isn't impatient with our newness, just eager to see us improve.
Enter Teri Ryan, the face behind some of the best University of Alberta's Climbing Centre entry-level courses, or in other words, a woman with patience of saintly proportions.
"I had phenomenal instructors and coaches growing up and the patience they had for me was unreal," says the Education student, knowingly. "Not only did they teach me to climb, they passed on that patience."
Teri is in her final semester at the University of Alberta. Having climbed for 13 years, she sought a degree in Education to share her passion for climbing with others; choosing a major in Social Studies and a minor in CTS: Natural Resources (with a focus on Outdoor Education). This semester she can be found teaching our U-Lead and The Complete Climber courses, two classes she's been fine-tuning for the past few years.
While studies have shown that the majority of people with inherit talent have a hard time passing that knowledge on, mentors, like Teri Ryan, are the exception. The old adage, "those who can't, teach." doesn't apply to this handful. They embody two distinct passions, their art and the art of teaching. They are true coaches: superb at what they do, and competent in sharing it.
"Whenever I have seen someone and they are struggling, in whatever aspect, I always just try to think about what it was like for me the first time," she explains. "Demonstrating putting on a harness, tying a figure 8 knot, or every time I do a belay test, I always try and imagine what it was like the first time I took the test myself. You have someone standing there, judging you, critiquing you, and you have one shot to do it. It's a lot of pressure."
Having taken my lead test with Teri, I can vouch for her statement. She was insanely compassionate as I gripped the wall psyching myself up for the fall, and having seen her teach other groups, it's obvious she has a gift for calming the fearful climber. Putting frightened adults at ease is an art she has mastered… And that's saying a lot.
Teri got her start at 10 years old, when her parents signed her up for an extreme sport summer camp.
"This camp was for snorkelling, climbing, and skateboarding. I was actually in it for the skateboarding!" she laughs. "But I loved the climbing. I was hooked right away, and I just stuck with it."
Teri honed her burgeoning talent at the Mount Royal University Climbing Centre, starting with classes every Saturday morning, then joining their Youth Development Team. Soon, she was working for the Centre belaying for birthday parties. After her level 1 and 2 ACMG Climbing Gym Instructor designations and a TRCI Certification to teach outdoor top roping, Teri teaches as many courses at the University of Alberta Climbing Centre as she can pack into her schedule as a student. Ultimately, she hopes to build a career that fuses outdoor education with outdoor climbing.
"I find climbing indoors and outdoors so different," she explains. "It's hard to compare the two. During the winter months, I'm just biting at the bit to get outdoors and climb on the rock. Then during the outdoor season, I start to miss the indoor facility and just how much less of a process it is."
"I really like indoor climbing for the training aspect," she continues. "But I love outdoor climbing. Though, honestly, it terrifies me. I don't have any fear climbing indoors. I will take any lead fall indoors! Being outdoors humbles me. I'm out on the rock face and clinging to it thinking maybe I should have gone with what my mom wanted and taken ballet… Nothing scares me like climbing outdoors."
Like many climbers, Teri finds a sense of peace on the wall, chipping away at routes up to 511+. Having struggled with anxiety, she turns to the rock wall, rather than going for a run or meditating.
"I will feel my anxiety come to the surface when I'm climbing outdoors. But when I freak out a bit, the only thing that will calm me down is actually to keep climbing. So, not getting into that headspace [of fear], but to keep at it, keep doing those moves, keep finding those rests, and keep going up."
She notes how positive she believes climbing can be for individuals, on and off the wall, and especially within the demographics she loves to work with. She believes high school students who are quite naturally struggling with anxieties, uncertainties and pressures can find solace, or at the very least some fun, on the wall.
Teri accredits the mentors in her life for pushing her over the typical plateau periods developing climber's experience, and teaching her more than movement. Her mentors include a long list of talented climbers and instructors, from across the province: Derek Wilding (Level 3), Scott McKay (Level 3), Kyle Steinbrenner (Level 2), David Erickson (Level 2), Geoff Foulger (Level 2), and the University of Alberta's own lecturer, Dallas Mix (Level 2).
"I was taught by my coaches and mentors to persevere," she explains. "And I learnt resiliency [from them]. If you want it bad enough, you'll go after it. And so, I really use that to motivate myself. There were years when I did not feel progress. It was really frustrating. I would sit back and wonder, 'maybe I should pick up some other activity or sport' but there was always something about climbing I've really enjoyed."
This year, Teri aims to complete her degree, while also seeking her level 3 indoor ACMG certification, which would allow her to teach other people how to become climbing instructors. Her time in Edmonton, at the University of Alberta Climbing Centre, has allowed her to significantly grow her teaching practice. The Climbing Centre Supervisor, Lloyd King, gives her the freedom to run with her ideas, improve the Centre's programming, and adjust her teaching methods to better suit her students.
"Lloyd gives us freedom and trusts us as instructors," Teri says. "He trusts what we're doing, he trusts that we're going to be prepared and organized. Because we're working with the programs directly, we have this added insight [into effective teaching methods] and he really lets us use that to our advantage and take the reigns."
Beyond teaching, Teri also sets routes for the Centre. Though her love of teaching is her primary focus, route setting offers her a unique sense of satisfaction while also contributing to her understanding and knowledge of the sport. She's found it also provides a window into the psyche of the climber and the route setter. It allows her to empathize with the route setter's intention and the climber's challenge. Empathy for others is a prevalent skill that benefits Teri's teaching. It's laced within her words, and it's an important part of how she sees mentorship.
"The climber/belayer relationship: that's such as interesting dynamic," she laughs. "There is so much trust there. If you can find yourself a really solid belay partner, that's perfect. It's always awesome whenever you're belaying someone and they send something! It's an amazing feeling being part of their experience and their success."
Teri climbs with a regular partner, Darrel Simmt, whom she actually taught to lead climb. That's an added bonus to being a teacher. If there isn't a suitable belayer around, you can mold one yourself. Her advice to any new climber? Find a good partner, or as she puts it "just start chatting people up in the boulder lounge." Teri has found some of her favourite climbing partners among her colleagues at the University Climbing Wall.
"We all get along really well. From what I've seen, a lot of us climb together too. Not only are we coworkers, we're friends, and we're also climbing partners," she says.
As for how she feels about gender within the sport, she thinks it's no obstacle.
"It's like most sports, there is just not as many of us [women], but we can crush," she laughs. "It's pretty inspiring actually. Since moving to Edmonton and broadening my personal climbing community, some of the ladies that climb at the U of A Wall are unreal. They are strong climbers."
She mentions Tara and Maya; two women who are dedicated participants of the U-Upgrade program, and regularly featured in photos on this blog. They are talented climbers, but also two of the nicest people in the community according to Teri.
"Growing up, I primarily had male role models, which was fine," she says. "But I do wonder what it would have been like to have had a really strong female climbing role model in my life. Now, I have more female role models, and I hope men have female role models too."
Teri adds, "climbing has been such a huge part of my life; I am so fortunate to work at such an amazing climbing facility and have the climbers that I do in my life. They never told me I couldn't do something, they always encouraged me."
She firmly believes that each and every climber can act as a mentor and a teacher to others, whether it is actively teaching, modelling the lifestyle and respect for the outdoors, or simply offering a couple encouraging words here and there.
Photos one, three and four by David Jones & second photo by David Erickson.