Familial Love
The bond between the speaker and his grandfather is portrayed as close and loving in the poem. The physical act of climbing implies intimacy because the speaker discovers more about the landscape of his grandfather's body (and thus his life) as he climbs. These discoveries are essential to the speaker's survival—he has to pay attention to what is in front of him because "climbing has its dangers." This suggests that paying attention to our elders and the people in our family will assist in our own survival.
Rather than be a cold and imposing figure, the grandfather is warm and loving. This is evident in the way he smiles, as well as in the "slow pulse of his good heart." The speaker's initial decision to do the climb free of any gear suggests a kind of trust both in his own abilities and in his grandfather. When he finally reaches the summit, the speaker rests there and focuses on his grandfather's heat and heartbeat, which translate to the grandfather's warmth and goodness as a person.
Childhood and Growing Older
Though the speaker uses a semi-formal tone and is presumably an adult, several factors in the poem gesture toward childlike wonder, discovery, and growth. For example, the mountainous presence of the grandfather evokes the way that adults can seem like giants to children. The speaker's decision to free-climb his grandfather also evokes the adventurous risk-taking that many children engage in.
As the speaker climbs higher and higher, he encounters different aspects of his grandfather that contribute to their intimacy. This is symbolic of the way the speaker gets to know his grandfather better as they both grow older. Though the grandfather's body has not yet broken down with age (his shoulder is "still firm" and he has all his teeth and hair), there is still an awareness in the poem that the grandfather is old and thus approaching death. The "screed cheek" and wrinkles are examples of this, as is the heartbeat. Though "the slow pulse" of the grandfather's heart is proof that he is alive, it is also marking the passage of time that will inevitably bring death.
Challenge and Ease
The enormity of the speaker's task (climbing his grandfather) is visually represented by the way the poem exists as a single stanza. The decision to free climb adds to the challenge, as the speaker eschews the use of gear and relies on his own strength and dexterity. By the end of the climb, the speaker's energy is spent. He lies at the summit, gasping for breath.
However, not all parts of the journey are described as difficult. In the beginning, the speaker states that it is an "easy scramble" over the grandfather's shoes to reach the trousers. Later on, the wrinkles on the grandfather's forehead are "well-spaced / and easy" to climb. As a sport, climbing has symbolic resonance with life itself: in both cases, some parts are harder or easier than others. The speaker encounters both challenge and ease in his climb and (symbolically) in his life.
