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So what are you? Preppie gym rat? Muscle bound sport climber? Live-off-the-land-and-eat-your-own-extremities-to-survive trad climber? Armchair hard man? Spill it! Does rhododendron make you whine, or do you savor every second you spend on your knees under a 50 pound pack loaded with trad gear and an 11mm rope? Does bright sunshine hurt your eyes? Have you ever climbed in the rain?

To cut through all the nonsense: Do you climb because it is an outdoor recreational activity or are you outdoors only because you climb?

What about the option for:

Gym climber due to full time job, part time school, full time non climber girlfriend but would rather be outside in the "wilds" every day.

I bet that would get some votes! Or at leasst my vote.

The reason I started climbing in the first place was because I missed being outside. I was hiking in the Red back in July of '01 with a couple of friends and we were doing some scrambling to get a better look at these rock features in this little gully. Well, there was this big limb that had been propped up to use as an aid to get into and out of the creekbed/hollow secured by a nice thin string tied off to a root. On my way down the thing, I tore a nice long gash in my leg. On the way back up I had to again use the stick of death, but I also had to crawl along this little rock ledge for about 20 feet on my stomach to get back to more stable ground. That was the first time I had bled from doing something outside in a LONG time (since moving to Lexington) but it reminded me of how much fun I used to have back home when I would be in the woods hunting and having to climb/fall all over stuff like that all the time. Pretty much it just reminded me of how much I really enjoyed just being in the woods. I spent the rest of the day "bouldering" on anything I could get my hands on. Later we made our way around to Chimney Top and as I was standing there looking out over all those cliffs I made up my mind right then and there that I was going to start rock climbing. That next week my two friends that I had went hiking with and I headed to Climb Time and the rest is history!


Mj

How 'bout I spend almost as much time backpacking and paddling as I do climbing? My time in the outdoors has not increased one little bit since I started climbing years ago. I have gotten stronger though, and met a lot of really cool cats. Although Paddlers seem to party more, Climbers are probably the most social bunch of the outdoorsey kids.

What if you like both sport and trad and love the outdoors and climbing? Why try to categorize people in this way?

I pretty much will do any sport that keeps me outside! I climb, mountian bike, road bike(hate dealing with trucks!), fly fish, used to race sail boats (miss that a TON), back packing trips, snow shoeing in the Adirondacks(just freakin awesome), what ever, I am down with the great outdoors! I hike my dogs a ton during the week just to get trail time. I would much rather go hiking then to some city event or crowded amusement park(avoid that sh$t like the plague).

These are very limiting options.

After this semester. I'm moving out of my apartment and living at Miguel's till the end of the season then I'm moving to the southern region into a cave. I'm going to work/school part-time and climb the rest.

My major is outdoor rec. so I'm gonna do it outdoors.

Wicked Tribe wrote: To cut through all the nonsense: Do you climb because it is an outdoor recreational activity or are you outdoors only because you climb?

This is the range of your outdoorsness, the poll options are degrees between extremes. If one of the options doesn't fit you, pick the closest one or do your own poll. This is really a simple question. I was just trying to be really cute.

Its my subtle way of making fun of people who whine when the going gets tough. So what, so there's a little rhododendron growing next to the trail? Do you see this as part of the experience or a major inconvenience? Do you refuse to go to crags with no identifiable trail or do you subject yourself to Bushwhack Bootcamp at least once every climbing trip?

from the crowds at the major crags, 98% of those climbing at the Red are there for the convenience and not the adventure. if they say otherwise, they are lying or have no idea what adventure is. BTW, I do include myself in this category. I climb at the Red for the ease of access. There is only about 2 ounces of "adventure" at any sport crag at the Red. And that adventure is watching the grocery line of 5.7 climbers on Mr Bungle....lol