RRC Archives

rhunt wrote:
Now back my nursing my injuries and dreaming of the old-n-days...

HGH, brah ... it'll bring you back.

I find that I enjoy the planning process, and if you're good at it you won't make things so specific. Before I drive to the Red I almost always know what walls I'm going to for the day and what routes I want to climb when I get there.... Understanding that the plans are always flexible. If you plan right you can always be climbing stellar routes efficiently at the grades you want to be climbing. I'd rather spend my day at the red climbing, not planning.

Right on clifton.

Look, it isn't that complicated to get up in the morning, go to a crag, look at a guidebook, and get on some routes. If you have an established project or already know the routes, then that simplifies it even more. Something unexpected happens, and you deal.

Is this even a problem for people? Do people wake up at any given time and say "Whoa! I might climb today! I better start thinking about that. Boy, I have to think about what crag I want to go to also, because I have no clue. Gosh, why didn't I plan this better?"

der uber wrote:
Is this even a problem for people? Do people wake up at any given time and say "Whoa! I might climb today! I better start thinking about that.

To you and I, planning these things is so obvious that it seems absurd to even talk about it, but I think you would be surprised at how many climbers never think about this stuff. They literally show up at a random crag, seemingly by accident, then make choices based on circumstances that present themselves throughout the day. This may be an effective way to have a "fun" day of climbing, but if you had other goals such as maximizing your daily point value, or sending a hard route, then some sort of plan would give you the best shot at that.

Here's an example...last Sunday I planned to go to the Solarium at Muir, and my goal was to do all the 5* routes at the Solarium and Arsenal, so that meant an 11a, 12a, 12b, and 12c. So, I figured my best shot was to warm up on two 11a's, try the 12c, then the 12b, then the 12a, so that was my plan. How did it go? Well, we had a 40-year flood on Sunday which made it difficult to move between the crags, I had a partner ask me to hang draws on her project, one of the kids had a belly ache etc, etc, so my plan was thrown completely out the window, but I still had a good day because you always have to be flexible.

der uber wrote: Is this even a problem for people? Do people wake up at any given time and say "Whoa! I might climb today!""

Qute the contrary my friend. It'll be pouring rain or really cold or something, and I'm like "Whoa, I might not climb today, I'll just do blah blah blah or sit around wondering what the hell am I supposed to do now." Then the phone rings and I am out my door in less than 20 straight from bed if need be.

A shitty day climbing still beats most (but not all) of my other days. I've also learned that the weatherman has a habit of hyperboles.

pigsteak wrote:

rhunt wrote:

ahab wrote:i have to get up at 6:30 to go to work. climbing should be anything but like work.

This is my favorite lame-ass excuse why people refuse to get up early to climb. Your love for climbing should have you up at 5am because you only have two days to climb and all week to go to that job you hate. For me, I can only climb on the weekends, that's 48 hours to climb, sleep and drive, what am I going to spend most of my time doing?

I think most people who have the discipline the train hard and thus climb hard also take the time to plan things out well. At least that's my experience being around climber who are constantly push their limit.

gotta remember rhunt, rarely are "climbers" athletes. climbing for many is merely an excuse to escape reality. they dream of sending harder grades, but refuse to put in the training, discipline, and yes, planning to make it happen. don't rain on their fantasy world of being REAL climbers.

getting drunk with brahs, spraying at miggies, climbing a max of 4-6 pitches a day..they accomplish any or all of these, and they actually call themsleves climbers. hah.

whether you approach climbing as a lifestyle/ escape activity or as an athletic endeavor, the sport still has a common denominator fitness level higher than in probably every other sports demographic group relative to age of the person involved. That is- climbing has a whole cadre of crusty old guys/ girls (meadows/morgan/artsey/diane/tutu/) that are fit.
All boats rise with the tide.

When we were out drunk some night lately did I end up married to you people?

I don't remember having to explain myself to you before and it's going to be a challenge to start now.

Relationships are all about compromise. That is, YOU compromise.