Successful Attempts

[TimL]

After browsing the failed attempts thread it started me thinking about successful attempts. Then I started thinking not only of successful attempts, but what time of year I do the most mountain routes with the least failures and the factors surrounding the successes. Just off the top of my head I think I complete a fair amount of mountain routes during late July, August and September. I think I have better luck during this time period for a number of reasons including weather. Does anyone else agree, disagree have an opinion? Lets hear it.

[wayne]

Todays fun is brought to you by the number 7,8,and 9. Wanna take leashless next time we try Colchuck-Balanced-Ice in Oct. Or skiis again ,Colin, when we try it again in June?

[Dru]

It is not an "attempt" if you succeed, it is a "climb"

Do or not do there is no try.

[specialed]

yup isnt' successfull attempts an oxymoron?

[erik]

specialed said:

yup isnt' successfull attempts an oxymoron?

 

there are succesful attempts when dealing with wimmin...

 

you attempt to get her. you get her ph#....

 

so you could in theory have many successful attempts!!!

 

[Dru]

if your attempt is successful it is no longer an attempt, it is a done deal. if someone says that they ATTEMPTED something it means they FAILED. otherwise they would say they "DID" it.

 

put it another way, attempt is an indeterminate quantum state, which upon observation, collapses to either success or failure. at that point, there is no attempt left.

 

however, your attempt can be up to 99.999999999999999etc. % successful, and still be a failure. only 100% success is true success. or you can redefine your goal to make your failure successful. for instance, the White House did this when its invasion of Afghanistan failed to kill Osama.

[klenke]

So there!

Doctor Dru Freud has spoken.

And now you know!

[Dru]

winners are just losers with a new attitude

[fleblebleb]

We attempted this route and were successful. What's the big deal? Superiority complex need some feeding, eh?

[catbirdseat]

It's more fun talking about our frustrations and failures than our successes. Climbing wouldn't be nearly as rewarding if every climb was a sure thing.

[cracked]

That's true. Unfortunately, I have not failed on anything but sport routes so far. I haven't even had an epic! Maybe I'm biting off less than I can chew. Dammit! I wanna fail!

[Dru]

fleblebleb said:

We attempted this route and were successful. What's the big deal? Superiority complex need some feeding, eh?

 

No one ever says that they "attempted and were successful", although the words are meaningful, they are not often used in the language. Saying "We attempted to climb Mt Snafflehound and were successful" is like saying, "We began to go, and went" or "We sat down to eat, and ate".

 

The word "attempted" past tense is used to mean "failed" as in "I have attempted this route 6 times now".

 

Its like "try". If someone says, "we are going to try" its fine. Things could go either way. But if someone says "We tried" it means "we failed." If they'd been successful they would have said "We did".

 

In summary. "Successful attempt" is an unnecessary construction when discussing routes.

 

Exception: when large numbers of parties attempt a climb, one may speak in the 3rd person and say there were X successful attempts and Y unsuccessful. Or whatever. But individuial in one of the parties should only say that they succeeded, or tried and failed.

[fleblebleb]

Hahahaha, I would be in a sorry state if nothing I tried ever worked. How do you get any work done Dru?

[catbirdseat]

cracked said:

That's true. Unfortunately, I have not failed on anything but sport routes so far. I haven't even had an epic! Maybe I'm biting off less than I can chew. Dammit! I wanna fail!

Cracked, you haven't lived until you have had an epic. You should try it sometime. I suggest Whitehorse, for starters.

[klenke]

For an epic, I suggest climbing the NW Ridge of Lewis with some gaper named Brian. Goes by some pseudonym like Catbirdseat or something.

[Dru]

fleblebleb said:

Hahahaha, I would be in a sorry state if nothing I tried ever worked. How do you get any work done Dru?

 

Attempts can be successful....but when they are successful they are no longer attempts but successes.

[cracked]

catbirdseat said:

cracked said:

That's true. Unfortunately, I have not failed on anything but sport routes so far. I haven't even had an epic! Maybe I'm biting off less than I can chew. Dammit! I wanna fail!

Cracked, you haven't lived until you have had an epic. You should try it sometime. I suggest Whitehorse, for starters.

 

When I tell people I want to fail, they look at me like I'm crazy. Maybe if I go for the Eve Dearborn Memorial or Girth Pillar I'll fail. Who'll go with me?

[greenfork]

Dru said:

Attempts can be successful....but when they are successful they are no longer attempts but successes.

 

i will attempt to argue semantics with you (note that if i succeed, this sentence is no longer correct, according to you).

 

webster says:

"to make an effort to do, accomplish, solve, or effect"

 

" ATTEMPT stresses the initiation or beginning of an effort <will attempt to photograph the rare bird>"

 

 

note that nowhere does it say "make an effort to do, but fail". i do not think failure is implied. if you succeed in climbing a route, does mean you never attempted it?

[Dru]

greenfork said:

Dru said:

Attempts can be successful....but when they are successful they are no longer attempts but successes.

 

i will attempt to argue semantics with you (note that if i succeed, this sentence is no longer correct, according to you).

 

webster says:

"to make an effort to do, accomplish, solve, or effect"

 

" ATTEMPT stresses the initiation or beginning of an effort <will attempt to photograph the rare bird>"

 

 

note that nowhere does it say "make an effort to do, but fail". i do not think failure is implied. if you succeed in climbing a route, does mean you never attempted it?

 

attempted, past tense, implies failure

 

note that your examples and dictionary suggest, agreeing with me, that attempt is used in advance of an action, and not afterwards... unless unsuccessfully.

[JoshK]

cracked said:

catbirdseat said:

cracked said:

That's true. Unfortunately, I have not failed on anything but sport routes so far. I haven't even had an epic! Maybe I'm biting off less than I can chew. Dammit! I wanna fail!

Cracked, you haven't lived until you have had an epic. You should try it sometime. I suggest Whitehorse, for starters.

 

When I tell people I want to fail, they look at me like I'm crazy. Maybe if I go for the Eve Dearborn Memorial or Girth Pillar I'll fail. Who'll go with me?

 

Cracked, I'm down to fail. Let's go take a shot at something nasty and shiver our asses through an unplanned bivy!

[erik]

jok and crak

 

go climb the soviet route!!! then we will hear about an epic!!

 

non-ofthispansy shit.

 

i want compound fractures!!!

 

actually not really.

 

it will catch up to you soon enough, no point in rushing it!

 

 

[specialed]

Erik what are you doing spraying so late?

Its way past your bed time.

 

As far as Epics in the mountains go: its often said - don't do stupid shit, but the only way you learn not to do the stupid shit is by doing it in the first place.

 

I've learned the most I've ever learned climbing by epicing. I'm not one to tell anyone how to go about climbing, but the best thing I ever did was venturing off the beaten path and trying routes that I was unsure and even scared about. That really is the best way to learn about yourself and what it really means to be a climber.

 

Don't go looking for epics, but for routes that truly challenge all of your mountain skills, and I'm sure along the way you'll experience whatever it is your looking for and more.

[AlpineK]

I'm on Dru's side. I would never say, "I attempted Mt. Kronic and climbed it." If I climbed Mt. Kronic, I would say, "I climbed Mt. Kronic.

 

Any time I say I, "tried," or, "attempted," it means I didn't reach the summit.

[lummox]

if i attempted to get laid, but only got a handjob, i would still call it a success. that is a successful attempt.

[randygoat]

cracked said:

That's true. Unfortunately, I have not failed on anything but sport routes so far. I haven't even had an epic! Maybe I'm biting off less than I can chew. Dammit! I wanna fail!

 

Hey , you ought to have an eic sometime. I've had a few mild ones.Want to borrow one of mine? I'm also well expeirienced with failures to.

Edited April 8, 2003 by randygoat