Whether it is heels, toes or arms, Ivan Greene has broken them all.
The rock climber recounted his six sprained ankles, torn hamstring, ruptured disc and torn shoulder as he led an instruction session yesterday at Pottruck Health and Fitness Center.
Greene participates in a style of rock climbing called bouldering, which is outdoor climbing without the support of ropes and hooks.
The event, sponsored in part by energy drink maker Red Bull, drew about 20 attendees, a few of whom were amateur rock climbers with little or no experience.
Most people, like Chemistry doctoral student Brian Hewgley were there mainly to meet Greene, while others came to get pointers on their climbing techniques and weaknesses.
Greene fell in love with the sport, which he describes as "wrestling a mad truck coming at you," on his first rock-climbing experience in 1988.
To display the strength, tenacity, focus and drive that bouldering entails, Greene showed a one-hour video clip of some of his rock-climbing experiences. The video follows Greene as he travels from New York to California, pioneering boulders along the way.
Describing himself as "stubborn," Greene does not rest or give up until he has mastered a boulder, no matter the time or the weather.
"I always see myself finishing something. ... This thing is going down. ... I won't give up," he said.
As a teenager 17 years ago, Greene sold his new mountain bike to buy climbing gear and found himself in a society where bouldering was seen as "something eccentric climbers do ... like masturbating in a whorehouse."
He was nevertheless unperturbed as he chose his college mostly to be closer to warm weather and boulders.
Today, he is not only one of the trendsetters, but one who was bouldering before it was common in rock-climbing vocabulary.
Greene's love for climbing is what inspires Eastern Mountain Sports manager Seth Kaeser to live up to his dreams and climb.
"There's nothing set in stone, no rules in our sport," he said.
