Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 1:24 pm
Hell yeah...went up Arrowhead on Saturday just to sit on top & enjoy the scenery. Great view up there & the weather was kick ass. I could've stayed up there for hours.
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I'm so sick of hearing.......
Page 5 of 10
Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 3:27 pm
Ratings are useful. They let me know how many swear words will come out of my mouth as I climb.
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 9:12 pm
What I'm really sick of hearing lately is people bitching that the routes at Muir are easy for the grade. So what if a climb feels easier than it's grade? Tick it off, call yourself a rockstar, use the dang "rate this route" feature to express your opinion, and move on. I bet these same people are the ones who fall on an accurately graded route and say that it's hard for the grade and THAT'S why they fell.
The folks developing Muir are putting up routes so fast, slapping a name and grade on them so quick, and then moving onto another and not thinking twice about it. AND they appreciate the input and will gladly change the rating due to user consensus. The rapid pace at which they folks are developing is mind blowing. Hey Jared, Karla, Tim....maybe you all should sandbag grades there from now on and really watch them bitch because then you'll be REALLY messin' with their egos!
The folks developing Muir are putting up routes so fast, slapping a name and grade on them so quick, and then moving onto another and not thinking twice about it. AND they appreciate the input and will gladly change the rating due to user consensus. The rapid pace at which they folks are developing is mind blowing. Hey Jared, Karla, Tim....maybe you all should sandbag grades there from now on and really watch them bitch because then you'll be REALLY messin' with their egos!
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 9:21 pm
J-Rock wrote:From the book "American Rock" by Don Mellor:
"I fear, sometimes, that in the frenzied quest for high-end difficulty ratings, we risk seeing our places as simple means to an end. I hear people describe a route as "a 5.11" instead of "a beautiful crack." If this is the tendency for some climbers, then they are missing something important. If they don't know the wonder of the natural world, seasoned with the legends and myths of human endeavor -- in other words, essences more abstract but every bit as vital as the handhold in front of their face -- then their pursuit is sadly distilled to plain gymnastics. If their vocabulary doesn't include Camp 4, the Gendarme, the Naked Edge, or the Hex, or if they have to ask Yvon who?, then their experience is thin and bland and incomplete."
I don't get it...
Why is calling a route "a 5.11" so bad?? Some people really enjoy "plain gymnastics". For some, the physical pursuit is worth more than the "wonder of the natural world". Why is it that the more abstract way of viewing ANYTHING has to be the correct way????
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 10:19 pm
Hey Odub, you're back. I wondered where you had been. It had been getting kind of boring here lately.
I suppose that it's different for everyone. I don't think it's so bad to call a route a 5.11, but I do feel that people are missing something if they can't get past the grade to truly see and enjoy the route and the actual experience.
More from Mr. Mellor:
"Rock climbers of old were good with a compass, could read the clouds, knew the names of the trees and the wildflowers. Their eyes were wide open to the place, and they saw climbing as only one of many ways to experience it. The newcomer today comes from a climbing gym or instructional service, entryways to the sport in which the focuss too often shifts from the wilderness experience to the numerical difficulty of the moves. Many new climbers are strong and skilled, but they tend to have gaps, both in their understanding of outdoor living and in their appreciation for the depth of climbing's heritage."
I suppose that it's different for everyone. I don't think it's so bad to call a route a 5.11, but I do feel that people are missing something if they can't get past the grade to truly see and enjoy the route and the actual experience.
More from Mr. Mellor:
"Rock climbers of old were good with a compass, could read the clouds, knew the names of the trees and the wildflowers. Their eyes were wide open to the place, and they saw climbing as only one of many ways to experience it. The newcomer today comes from a climbing gym or instructional service, entryways to the sport in which the focuss too often shifts from the wilderness experience to the numerical difficulty of the moves. Many new climbers are strong and skilled, but they tend to have gaps, both in their understanding of outdoor living and in their appreciation for the depth of climbing's heritage."
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 10:34 pm
Oh yeah, we've sandbagged a few already and some of them haven't seen very many repeats yet. 
Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 12:12 am
VA, do you really hear that often or was once too much? If you do hear it often then you either need to start looking a little closer earlier or maybe start giving an "accidental" feel? Or maybe stop getting naked in or around cold water? I dunno.meetVA wrote:Another thing I hate to hear...
...it's the cold water, I swear!
Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 12:23 am
i'm sick of saying how cold and deep the water is every time i pee off a bridgeAlan Evil wrote:VA, do you really hear that often or was once too much? If you do hear it often then you either need to start looking a little closer earlier or maybe start giving an "accidental" feel? Or maybe stop getting naked in or around cold water? I dunno.meetVA wrote:Another thing I hate to hear...
...it's the cold water, I swear!
Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 12:45 am
I'm with Odub on this Jrock..my answer would still be "so what"...who are we to dictate to anyone what their outdoor experience has to be? so what if I don't even own a compass....so what if I can't tell a cumulus from a rombus cloud....
if people are jonesin' to climb all the "rad sport 5.12's" in the gorge, and that is the limit of their enjoyment, who are we to say they are missing anything. I might argue that their limited insight actually allows them to thoroughly enjoy those moments, without thinking that there must be more to it....
retirement ain't gonna work for piglet if all this enviro, liberal nonsense continues to predominate without solid facts.
if people are jonesin' to climb all the "rad sport 5.12's" in the gorge, and that is the limit of their enjoyment, who are we to say they are missing anything. I might argue that their limited insight actually allows them to thoroughly enjoy those moments, without thinking that there must be more to it....
retirement ain't gonna work for piglet if all this enviro, liberal nonsense continues to predominate without solid facts.
Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 12:57 pm
I just think it's pathetic that so many climbers these days can't even read a topo map. What's up with that? Insidious homogenization is what it is...