General Hospital News: Johnny Wactor Climbs To The Top

Daytime newcomer Johnny Wactor has shown that his General Hospital character, Brando Corbin, can handle some physical activity by fighting off some thugs. Off-screen, Wactor is pretty athletic, too, as evidenced in a recent rock-climbing video he posted on Instagram.

In the following essay, it’s clear that Wactor knows as much about rock-climbing as Brando knows about auto mechanics. “Climbing rocks is so simple and yet can be so difficult,” Wactor waxed on social media. “There’s a rock. How does one get on top of it? Hmm… well, there’s this way with big holds for your hands and secure spots for your feet. Let‘s try this route. Ascend or ‘send’ the route to the ‘top out’ of the boulder. You did it! Easy.

“Now climb down safely,” the performer continued in his post. “Hmm… is there another way to get to the top? Perhaps a more challenging way, that’s more vertical with smaller holds & less secure feet? Ah, here is a way ~ tries once, twice, thrice, once more, ok once more, ok ONCE more ~ nah, this is impossible. Once more you try, then ‘oh! If I put my foot here then I can reach the next hold.’ You do not send the route, but progress has been made.”

But not without a price. “[Y]our fingers are raw, skin missing, knuckles bleeding, body aching, yet your spirit intact as you have made incremental progression,” Wactor shared. “You think maybe you will go home to rest & come back another day fresh and determined. You return days later to the same rock outside early in the morning with the air crisp & cool & your fingers mended ready with anticipation as you have dreamt about making that next move closer to sending the route.

“You make a go at it,” Wactor says. “You struggle. You’re worse off than where you left off last time, yet you stick with it. After countless attempts, your doubt creeps in & you wonder if your dreams & excitement were premature. But you give it another go & the moves begin to click, effortlessly. Your hands feel strong & stick to the rock. Your mind is clear & present only thinking about placing your hands & feet moving onwards & upwards & ‘oh [expletive]! Don’t look down!’

“You do but, only briefly before refocusing on what your doing: climbing this rock… you’re so ever so near the pinnacle & realizing that making the final committing move will leave your entire body vulnerable, but it’s the last hold to pull yourself over the top… you see your friends encouraging & spotting below,” the Port Charles mechanic notes. “You make a decision. You go for it. It’s surprisingly secure. You risked it. You were brave. You hoist your body over the top and see the massive boulder you’ve conquered. Soak in the view. Now, what else is there to climb? 🎥 @tristan.bangle.”

Check out Wactor’s rock-climbing video below. General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC. Check local listings for air times.