Before the head wall on the Madness was bolted, I took a BIG fall way up there. I was above the old anchor about 20-25 feet and hit the wall at the bolt next to the dyno HARD. You can hit the wall on even super steep routes under the right/wrong conditionsYou guys need to climb steeper routes. I have fallen head first a couple times, I only hit a lot of air.
Do wear a helmet sport climbing?
When I used to cave I would never think of going in without a helmet. Now that I climb I usually never wear one. This was partly because my helmets (joe brown, petzl ecrins ets) seemed to block my vision in an annoying way as far as looking up was concerned. I bought an HB about a year or so ago and its really compact and is more cutaway in the forehead section and doesn't interfere with that anymore. Still - though I probably should wear it - I only wear it on trips - and almost never to the gorge.
If you were really cool, you would be better at protecting your coolness. People who "don't give a crap" are those who have given up on being cool because there is no hope of them ever being cool.Brentucky wrote:is coolness based on doing what everyone else does or doing what everyone else doesn't? i guess it depends on your perspective, but it seems that generally speaking the rebels who do what the majority don't get the reputation of being cool. in this case that makes the helmet wearers the cool ones. of course we all really know that the cool ones are the ones who don't give a crap one way or the other what other people think. therefore, the helmet wearers and "some" non-helmet wearers alike are cool in my book! too bad i'm generallly not cool at the crag although i've thought about it a time or two. i am however super cool when i'm snowboarding as my helmet even matches all my other gear!
Hauling a big ego up a route adds at least a full grade.
JR wrote:Wearing helmets on sport routes, cleaning sport routes by rappeling, anchoring into the ground to lead belay, Mythos, butt floss daisy chain, matching draws, hexes, tri-cams. All these things are suppose to help you climb safely. Ironically, I have learned that all these thing seem to indicate *sketchy folks.
*Just because you are sketchy doesn't mean you are uncool or anything. It just means you are new. Everybody here was new at some point. We(climbers) can spot new people a mile away. There is really nothing you can do to disguise this fact. So go ahead. Wear a helmet. Rap off anchors. Nobody is going to think you are something you're not.
Hexes don't necessarily mean you are new. I like hexes because I learned from an old school trad daddy. If you know how to place them, they beat out cams any day. You can call me new, but I have been climbing for ten years.
"Oh, everything's too damned expensive these days. This bible cost 15 bucks! And talk about a preachy book! Everybody's a sinner! Except this guy." - Homer Simpson
only among goobers and gumbies who climb slab where you can get a no hands rest while placing these miraculous marvels....bcombs wrote:Wow. That should generate some additional conversation.MacGyver wrote:...If you know how to place them, they beat out cams any day...
Positive vibes brah...positive vibes.