peacemaker Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 CLIMBING IN THE PNW “As this route and some of his other endeavors prove, he is one of the stronger climbers in the state and should be respected as such.” (Jason Martin) My first encounters with climbers from the Seattle area happened at Smith Rocks 13 or 14 years ago. I wasn’t that impressed. Except for a couple of characters like Mike or Andy, most of the crowd was pretty lame. A lack of strength and ability to pull down was replaced with loud spray, dubious climbing tactics and general “cool” attitude (and I don’t mean this in positive way). This crowd looked pretty lame against mostly honed locals and European contingent. It was time for me to move and with my renewed interest in alpine/ice climbing I decided to move to Washington State about 6 years ago. A first hand look at the local climbing scene made me want to puke. Except a few good climbers of older generation and a couple of strong sport climbers (which by the way ended up moving out of this area in the meantime) there was not much going on. I am not a strong climber, I am weak. I am old; too busy working, not spending enough time climbing. One cannot look back and say: “I used to crank at some point, so I am an ok climber”. There are hundreds of climbers in Italy, France or Spain, who can crank sport, alpine and ice routes. Believe me- they can pull down at a very high level. There are a handful of people who put up hard alpine routes even sport routes, most of them are older, climbed for a long time and their drive to push the limits is significantly diminished. And the tragedy is that nobody is trying to pass them, but they somehow same lamos feel in position to spew some shit beyond belief. Climbers around here are “popping big wood” because someone repeated a 20 year old route??!!! I mean Watussi Rodeo isn’t exactly a cutting edge of alpine climbing, but in almost 20 years received less then 10 ascents? Two weeks of continuous sunshine produced 3 decent climbs!!!!! How about a repeat of Pornstar? Our route on Pyramid Peak isn’t hard. There should be hundreds of climbs like that around here, if only people opened their eyes instead of spraying on bb. I am sure there were several parties slogging up Rainier during that time. Let me spell it out for you: walking up a snow/ice/glacier slope of 30 or even 45 degrees is not climbing. Call it mountaineering, technical hiking or whatever, but it’s not climbing. Don’t even get me started on sport climbing/rock climbing scene as it is as lame as it gets. A classic example was a trip to Horn Lake by 2 members of Vertical World. In 2 days managed to get their rope stuck on some crappy 5.10 (basically they managed to get their assess kicked), declared area as “sucky” and decided never to return to the place again. Alpine climbing starts with good sport climbing background. Hey champ, if you can’t hang on to a 5.10 or a 5.11 clip up at the crag, how can you hang-on on vertical mixed pitch? How fast can you send 5.11 or 12, have you ever done 5.13, how about 14? Sport climbing builds strength, strength gives confidence, confidence gives speed and speed IS safety. I don’t say you’ll be able to start cranking hard alpine routes right away, but it is the necessary step every climber has to take. In this statement I am not trying to diss people who climb just for fun. On the other hand if you just climb for fun doesn’t put you in the position to spray. Just because the climbing you do is hard TO YOU doesn’t mean it is hard in general by today’s standards. And if you can’t crank but you still spray- don’t be surprised if someone calls you on that. 99% of posts on cascade-chuggers are pure shit-spray. Even worse, under an umbrella of anonymity so called climbers say shit, they would be laughed at and discredited immediately. People, little honesty and self- control! Washington and B.C. are an awesome alpine background. A potential for a next generation routes is vast. I’d like to see some younger guns running up some sicko lines, downgrading them and then moving on to the next project. I’d like to see hotshots establishing hard lines and say: “hey grandpa, choke on this one”. But until then shut the fuck up and climb little biatch…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Haha! So there! How's it going on Porn Star, buddy? That fucker's going down! Thanks for the psych. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Alpine climbing starts with good sport climbing background. Do you have a lycra confession to make? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attitude Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Can't argue with that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Sounds like Twight. He has a point, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Irony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 sounds like the little turds at the terrain park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegetablebelay Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 seen on Live The Vision bulletin board: Robert, Please call me 403-874-8040, so we can meet somewhere, and I can kick your fucking ass, all the way back to whatever hole you crawled out of. Harlan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 So I cut my hedge down; you just can't believe all the light! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Had there been a bustle in your hedgerow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Where is Pornstar and how hard is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 No, my sister is coming, riding many a mile (I haven't seen her for a long time). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jja Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 cracked said: Where is Pornstar and how hard is it? How hard is the pornstar? Are you sure you want to know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 It takes great endurance to ride Porn Star to the top. Many methods are known for greater stamina, yet hard they are to learn and master. Some are beaten before they mount; some are beaten before. Not one move will stop you, yet one move will always stop you; until you understand , you cannot understand. Once you understand, you will not climb the rocks any more. You will be tethered by no umbilical cord; you will know what needs to be known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 cracked said: Where is Pornstar and how hard is it? Oh it's this silly endurance route at Little Si, hundred feet long, no really hard moves, awesome positions, and a total sandbag at 13c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 No problem. Anytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuMR Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 I thought that thing was checking in at 13b...At least that's what the evil doc said before he left. Flatliner is in there around 13b or c too w/ a hell of alot harder moves (but not sustained)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuMR Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Yo bob... Don't worry about folks spraying and then not delivering...who cares anyway? Just climb your stuff and tell 'em to get outta yer way... Here's to the *old* days in bend...sure miss them...this office bites ass... Later Rudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 it does make one wonder, why bob cares soo much about other people. maybe he jsut has a big heart and is concerned that we are all trying our best??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 RuMR said: I thought that thing was checking in at 13b...At least that's what the evil doc said before he left. Flatliner is in there around 13b or c too w/ a hell of alot harder moves (but not sustained)... Let me tell you right now, the doctor isn't one to glean grade beta from. It's way harder than Chronic, and I've heard that called a sandbag at 13b by a 5.13 climber. But whatever. I just call it hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuMR Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Fair enough regarding erik... I worked pretty hard on flatliner (hate that fucking route ) beside it and it felt quite a bit stiffer than pornstar...ratings are soo subjective anyway. How's pornstar going for you? Sending range? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 RuMR said: Fair enough regarding erik... I worked pretty hard on flatliner (hate that fucking route ) beside it and it felt quite a bit stiffer than pornstar...ratings are soo subjective anyway. How's pornstar going for you? Sending range? Did you get pornstar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Oh, and if you were asking me about porn star, i just checked it out a couple of times last year. I'm getting some psych up to get on it again soon, but what I'm really psyched about is the Californicator through Porn Star link up. that sickness gets me worked up, cuz I love cali just by itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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