yeaaa, that was the original premise wasn't it?caribe wrote:Oh, and by the way, trad is gettin popular again.
To answer that question, I haven't really seen a return to trad, or a renewed interest in trad in my parts.
Rock climbing in general is more popular, so I guess in terms of numbers alone you could say that more people trad climb than before, but it's just a ratio thing. To consider that trad is turning into a fad, I'd have to see gym rats taking it up instead of bouldering (and that's not happening), or really strong sport climbers and boulderers buying a rack to give a shot at that unrepeated test piece (not happening either).
The only thing that could point to trad climbing becoming trendy is that I know a bunch of old school tradsters who are pissed because their old 5.7 classic routes are being renovated with bolted anchors and bolted rappel stations. They complain of "loss of essence" and "loss of character" when they can clip bolts at an anchor instead of slinging an old dying tree or equalizing half a dozen nuts in loose blocks. Makes me think that trad climbers are essentially against convenience.
Does it mean that more people are getting on these routes? probably. But like I said, there are more people climbing in general, so that's just 'cause and effect' logic.
