Climb/Write

What did I learn from past experiences that apply to my writing now? One of the most monumental feats I did before writing was take up technical rock climbing. I remember going thru an undergrad program studying reading Hillary's Nothing Venture, Nothing Gain as a reward for doing calc problems. Six years of climbing ended w/ a culminating roped-SOLO of a climb rated 5.12 in the mid-eighties. It was quite something to "write about." A lesson I learned from climbing was "what do you do to improve your climbing?" It was basically "climb." That was a mentality that was worth entertaining for a while and use in appropriate decision making. So w/ writing is it the same to grow and be equally and more successful? Words games might count? Diverse experiences like assorted lexical access drills make for good candidates? Write to write. One related answer is read to write. Cannot help to recall a B52s song w/ lyrics, "Before I talk I should read a book." Any way the task of writing seems to get closer to the 10K hrs at task to master a skill/talent/ability that seems to be the latest conventional agreement. The task of a major effort is usually the sum and more so of a lot of little ones. The learning experience is well worth it to gain within and without.