RRC Archives

pigsteak wrote:there are a few women who kick my ass on the wall, yet there are thousands of guys who can do it...sort of like the marathons I run...1,000 women, and 5,000 men finish ahead of me...

I was saying it in a friendly joking way. The first clause of the first sentence sounded like bragging, especially since there are many very strong (no Allah, I didn't say "stronger") female climbers out there. But since there are thousands of men, then I guess you're humble.

I don't know ... being 6,000 in a marathon, especially if it happens to be Boston, wins you bragging rights. Well, unless there are only 6,000 runners.

i saw the article it left me wondering. is the kid going to follow and jumar every pitch(lame wade) or is he going to swing leads(super stud). i guess it does not matter to non-climbers but how the kid climbs those routes will determine (in my mind) if this feat is news worthy or not!

I see a trend:
Most men wouldn't mind spending 3 years on the road, to later accomplish some great achievements in the climbing world.
Fewer women would like to be on the road for so long, thus fewer women climb really hard.
Having said that, I know a lot of women who would out-climb a lot of men, but for the most part, men climbing hard is a more frequent occurance.

i think you are confusing cause and correlation....

Why don't news organizations have their articles 'lingo checked' by actual climbers before they run them? Here's an example:

Gyms require climbers to work in teams, with one working the route while a partner is "on belay," making sure there's no slack in the rope to keep falls to a minimal distance.

On the one hand, they use climber slang 'working the route' where it is likely to be confusing, and then they moderately misuse 'on belay', which belies their lack of real understanding of the terminology. It would be so easy to catch and clean up, but these sorts of things are in every major media piece about climbing! (Although it's usually a lot worse than this stuff - at least they didn't mix up 'free climbing' with 'free soloing')

I'll bet that the way that Florine and this kid would aproach the Nose/Half Dome link-up would be with Florine doing a lot (maybe all) of the leading, but with tons of simulclimbing. That's been the main speed climbing strategy recently. If the kid can haul while following 10ish stuff, that supposedly covers big chunks of the two routes.

I know everyone is having fun sniping at eachother about the 'gender wars' stuff - but from what I've seen teaching loads of newbies, the women who give it a serious try tend to be better than men at first, particularly on vertical and slab routes (which is where newbies should be, anyway). In the longer run, the greater raw strength that men can develop lets them outpace equivalent women - especially on the overhanging and 'bouldery' routes that are most popular in gyms.