Gym Climbers

Discussions full of RAGE!

Should gym climbers be considered real rock climbers?

Yes
13
19%
Maybe
14
20%
No
23
33%
Hell no!
19
28%
 
Total votes: 69

Alan Evil
Posts: 3592
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2003 1:08 pm

Post by Alan Evil »

You tell 'em Di. Plus, if you climb J-Rock's 5.12s you'll actually only be climbing 5.7 so you'll send and feel great.












Just kidding, J-Rock. You know that. :twisted:
[size=75]You are as bad as Alan, and even he hits the mark sometimes. -charlie

"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
J-Rock
Posts: 1936
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:30 pm

Post by J-Rock »

Uh oh, I'd better start sandbagging a few more routes! :D Unfortunately the kind owner of Muir Valley has forbidden me from sandbagging...
"Those iron spikes you use have shortened the life expectancy of the Totem Pole by 50,000 years."

--A Navaho elder
Christian
Posts: 1722
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2003 1:57 pm

Post by Christian »

Dear Pig,
I am 49, and I agree I shouldn't use age as an excuse. I have a basket full of other excuses but I keep climbing. I love it.
I try to be a good man but all that comes
of trying is I feel more guilty.
Ikkyu
meetVA
Posts: 1883
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2003 4:13 pm

Post by meetVA »

christian, there is nothing in the guidebook that says you have to climb 5.12 to have fun.
so i'm wid'ya buddy.


5.1 climber unite!! :)
I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
- Robert McCloskey

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
- Emo Philips
marathonmedic
Posts: 1557
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:01 am

Post by marathonmedic »

J-Rock wrote:Uh oh, I'd better start sandbagging a few more routes! :D Unfortunately the kind owner of Muir Valley has forbidden me from sandbagging...
from a Star Trek movie (V?):
"A lie, Spock?"
"An error."
Ticking is gym climbing outdoors.
User avatar
pigsteak
Posts: 9684
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:49 pm

Post by pigsteak »

congrats to you christian for willing the body to do the deed when the mind says enough...

as far as Va, she knows better....ain't no real climbing below 5.12...might as well stay home and watch videos at that level.
Positive vibes brah...positive vibes.
Spragwa
Posts: 3650
Joined: Sat Jan 25, 2003 4:05 pm

Post by Spragwa »

Ahh piggie. Same tired position, different day.
Jesus only knows that she tries too hard. She's only trying to keep the sky from falling.

-Everlast
User avatar
pigsteak
Posts: 9684
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:49 pm

Post by pigsteak »

sprag, that's the way truth has to be taught...consistent, unwavering. reality doesn't change just because we are unwilling to accept it :)
Positive vibes brah...positive vibes.
meetVA
Posts: 1883
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2003 4:13 pm

Post by meetVA »

but piggie, it doesn't seem to be work on you.
maybe we need to try a different tactic.

btw. good job on finally sending that 5.4 yesturday. i know you were really beating yourself up when you didn't get it at first go. persistence pays off piggie. two years later and you finally got it! congrats friend, congrats!
I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
- Robert McCloskey

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
- Emo Philips
tomdarch
Posts: 2407
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2002 9:22 pm

Post by tomdarch »

The irony in all of this "it ain't real if it ain't on rock" or "it ain't real if it ain't above [such and such grade]" is that there are mountianeers who scoff at all of us. Hemmingway didn't include "cragging" on his list of "real sports" (e.g. bull fighting and auto racing), he only included mountaineering, and I'm sure he meant the high, scary stuff at that - K2 or the North face of the Eiger. Serious mountaineering isn't my idea of fun, particularly if you look through the Rock and Ice issue with the list of dead "greats". Only one or two died actually rock climbing, and almost all died mountaineering.

Or check out what Chounard has to say about cragging and bouldering - he doesn't think it's 'the real thing' even if it is on rock. And think about serious headpointers. Most of them are 'only' climbing 5.12, but they're doing something very different from most of us.

To me it's all 'climbing'. You want to know who I think aren't real climbers? It's the folks who are more interested in spending a day in the woods or outside, for whom getting lost on the approach is just fine, and for whom climbing is just the excuse to get out there, even if they send 12 trad. To me, someone who is serious about the experience of climbing, the movement and the uniqe challenges, but only climbs plastic is more of a real 'climber*' than someone who just goofs off on 'real' rock.

(* note that I'm saying 'real climber' not 'real rock climber'. But then, I don't mean to privilege 'rock climbing' over 'climbing')
Bacon is meat candy.
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