"Without climbing, it feels like I’m short of breath," says Gord McArthur. That makes sense, as he’s been competitively climbing across the world for several years now. Whether it’s off-season or competition season, you can bet you’ll find McArthur halfway up a vertical incline somewhere, timing his sessions to the last second. Unfortunately, not everything in life can be so precisely predicted.
Despite his love for the sport, this ambitious dad ran into an obstacle almost every parent can relate to: the dreaded work-life balance. "I found myself driving hours and hours all the time to train. […] I couldn't do it — I couldn't juggle it," he says, the frustration clear in his voice.
Family is important to all of us, and many moms and dads struggle with this exact problem. How do you split time between the two things you love most in the world? Sometimes, capturing the moment can be enough — like the mom who took gorgeous photos of her son in the Russian countryside. Other times, it's bringing the project closer to home, like the dad who created an obstacle course using pool noodles.
To that end, something had to change in McArthur’s routine, so he built a 30-foot training apparatus called “The Machine” in his backyard. "The vision behind the backyard was so that I could go back there, do what I had to do, and still have that time in the day to [spend with family]." What a neat solution to a widely common problem!
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The Machine from Outdoor Research on Vimeo.
