John Frieh

Who's beating what again? Didn't see you today Better luck next time I guess...

Great story! All the money we raise at the PDX Ice Festival this year will be donated to the SMCC!

I think we are saying the same thing Justin but let me try again... Sticking to just Dru's original brain fart of the day do I think UFC is gay and/or fake? No I don't. As far as the rest of it... As far as my comparisons of climbers to MMA athletes I personally see some commonalities between the two. I think it comes down to this: Is climbing a sport or an activity/hobby or both? I think we all would agree that UFC/MMA is a sport. Sport by definition implies competition. I personally believe climbing for most if not all of us includes competition. Sure... not the same more formalized type that we see in the more standardized sports but climbing IMO includes competition. I believe almost all of us compete with ourselves... how hard can I climb? do I have the skills to climb route x? can I climb that route in a day? etc etc etc And for a smaller population of the climbing community you see the more standardized external type of competition: climber(s) vs climber(s). Look at the race for the FA of the Eigerwand, the race for the first 8000 m peak, the first to climb all 14 8000 m peaks, the FFA of the nose... competition has always been a part of climbing IMO. I think the best example was the FA of the Matterhorn... the FA party trundled rocks on the other party they had beaten to the summit to ensure everyone knew they were first. And absolutely yes... their are some people out there that climb only to have fun... but they are few and far between. I think for almost all of us climbing is both: hobby and sport. The majority of my trips are to have fun and not per say compete with myself or others... and that would make it a hobby or activity on those trips. On the other hand some of my trips I push to see what can I do... I compete with myself. Sport. So... I think if climbers trained more like MMA athletes they would be more successful at succeeding at their goals... whatever they may be. I guess what I was thinking of when I wrote that was a few years ago Sports Illustrated had an article where they interviewed a lot of famous athletes and asked them the question "Is climbing a sport"... the consensus was no. Is my climbing happiness based on other people's opinions? No at all. Does it matter what the public thinks? Not usually. So yeah... sport or hobby or both? If sport then I think you/all would agree training can only help and climbers interested in training (maybe you... maybe not?) should check out how MMA athletes train. Nice pic BTW

[two cents] I dont know if Dru's question was more pointed towards UFC spectators or athletes. Though MMA isn't for me (yet ) I have developed a large respect for MMA athletes in the past few months working out with/getting to know them... my gym has a population of MMA fighters/UFC athletes. As I have gotten to know some of them I noticed a lot of parallels between their sport and ours. The first thing that struck me was their commitment to consistent, high quality, daily training throughout the week... it is higher than any climber I have every met... most of them put in 12 hour a week minimum training at a very high intensity level. I think that if more climbers trained at this level/intensity the overall skill level of our sport would be much higher... if this were the case I think our sport would be taken far more seriously than it is by the general public... I can think of a few times I took a newbie to the climbing gym and one of their first comments after viewing the patrons was "I thought you had to be skinny to be a climber" Additionally the consequences of not training for them is much much higher than it is for us... if they dont train they will physically get their ass kicked... if a climber doesnt train he is stuck climbing 5.9 and under... not much of a penalty if you ask me... I think the commitment/gumption required for MMA athletes to "get into the ring" is much higher than what most climbers experience tying in (our version of getting in the ring). Sure tying in and stepping up to try an alpine FA or something similar is a big commitment and the potential to get thumped is big and real but most climbers might savor this level of commitment once maybe twice a year where every day MMA fighters experience pain and fear. We might say "take" if we are pumped or scared but the only thing that really get bruised is our ego where as MMA athletes tap (their version of take) but only after they get physically beat down. [/two cents]

Tuesday, June 05, 2007 http://alpinestyle.blog.com/ Pull ups and calf raises. Everyday.

Can you do 10 consecutive? If so I can't begin to tell you how jealous I am...

Will you be taking your bikini off this time? :grlaf:

:[]

If the zorro face gets climbed by two colorado bro bras I blame you Mr Scurlock Looking forward to it

- If you're looking for PDX based ice partners plan on attending the PDX ice festival... we're in the process of confirming a date... once we lock it in I'll get the word out... we had over 100 people attend last year and almost all of them had a story similar to you… interested in learning more about ice… should be a great venue to meet potential partners as well as try out new ice gear - don’t believe all “no ice in OR” talk… if genuinely, passionately pursue ice you will meet the right people and find out quickly where you can climb ice in oregon. M7-M8, multipitch wi5… all in OR (and not in the gorge)… - buy Alex's book

desperate man

yes submission #3 is midriff bulge... though I like Sol's name better

No. Backside near * pass

submission #3

No... but submission 1 is Teddy Bears to Free Lunch. Submission 2 is climbers left of submission 1.

Nope

Teddy Bear's Picnic? Kinda... you climb TBP to get to it...

submission #2 (both pics same route): Should be easy... PS: if you haven't climbed this route I highly recommend it... yes a little loose rock here and there but w/ a little traffic and some new belay bolts it would be an awesome multi

Same route as above:

submission #1

Congrats Mike and Yuko!

ill bring an extra beater rope for fixing see you little bitches there

I'll be there w/ a rope and some TR material... what time? I wonder if Knottygirl will stop slack lining for the afternoon and come out and join us