Hey mountie bashers

[dryad]

I know it's a lot of fun to make fun of Mounties (hell, I do it myself), but tell me something, all of you who say REAL climbers should just teach themselves and find mentors to take them out...

How many of you hardmen (and hardwomen) are HONESTLY interested in taking on rank beginner and showing them the ropes? How many of you would REALLY rather take some newbie up da Toof, when you could instead be out climbing Super-Snazzy-Spire with someone who's just as hardcore as you are?

 

Seems to me that unless there's some exchange of sexual favors involved, it wouldn't happen very often. I hope I'm wrong here. Please prove me wrong and adopt a newbie. We all have to start somewhere.

[Alex]

wait, are you saying

 

a) you need a ropegun and

b) there's nothing in it for said ropegun other than warm fuzzies?

 

 

 

[specialed]

Rank beginners don't NEED to climb with mentors. They can find another rank beginner and read a book and then go toproping or snow slogging or whatever. One they have developed the basic skills, someone whois more experienced will probably more willing to take them out, or atleast to the crag.

 

I've learned a lot from climbing with people better than me, but also just from talking to more experienced climbers in the outdoors or at the pub. Sometimes a conversation is just as good as a day of climbing.

[Dave_Schuldt]

I got into climbing with a former housemate and his friends and some dude named chucK I met at the UW rock. They are all guys so sexual favors are not an issue. (At least for me).

[dryad]

Alex said:

wait, are you saying

 

a) you need a ropegun and

b) there's nothing in it for said ropegun other than warm fuzzies?

 

 

 

I'm always willing to buy beer for my ropegun.

[Sphinx]

Team up with another newbie and TR stuff, then practice placing gear, then start leading, etc. You don't need a ropegun to learn.

[fern]

dryad said:

Seems to me that unless there's some exchange of sexual favors involved, it wouldn't happen very often. I hope I'm wrong here. Please prove me wrong and adopt a newbie. We all have to start somewhere.

 

this is the wrong card to play

 

edit to add also that nobody needs a ropegun. also you can

learn a lot of things even without a partner. also that many more

experienced people are more willing to climb with a 'newbie' who

has made an effort to learn things on their own and show strong

self-motivation. also that it isn't an either the MOUNTIES or a

buddy/mentor shows you the ropes ... there are other ways to

learn stuff. for example guiding services, university outdoor

clubs, read all the books and practice on your own etc. For

example people here on cc give great advice and answers to

specific questions on techniques and trix and such that people

who are learning come up with, but they aren't going to develop

the curriculum for you. just because someone wants to learn

doesn't mean that they are automatically owed a free education

by others. If you wanna climb in Squamish sometime I'll show

you around and we can climb some and maybe you learn from that

... but I don't like teaching lessons.

Edited May 8, 2003 by fern

[allison]

ditto what Fern said.

[AlpineK]

Here's an idea.

 

Come to Pub Club

 

Meet some folks who are more experienced and some who have the same amount of experience as you.

 

Go cragging with a group with a mix of experience.

 

Go alpine climbing with someone who has about the same amount of experience as you after you've discussed your climbing plans with your friends with more experience.

 

Be carefull and try and keep your mistakes small enough that you can learn from them without getting really fucked up.

[minx]

hey, dryad has posted in the climbing partner forums. I don't think she's only relying on the mounties.

[dryad]

I actually have had decent success with finding climbing partners on cc.com. But then again, I'm not a total beginner, meaning I have enough of a basic skillset to not make a complete nuisance of myself (at least I don't think I do ).

[ryland_moore]

Agree with AlpineK, regardless of being a man or woman, I take those out less experienced then me and I go with others who are more experienced. It works both ways. And, not all hard-core climbers are hard-core every single day of the year. They like to do laid back "easy" climbing every once in a while. Ie. sport climbing fun run-outs at Smith (Tex has been known to do this a time or two, as well as the crack-meister himself, Erik!) Find out where folks are going and tag along. If it is not a huge, committing multi-pitch where adding new partners can upset timing issues, etc. you will have more of a chance to climb. My two cents.

[thelawgod]

The Mounties suck goat balls! They’re a perfectly fine organization if you dig climbing with troglodyte like motherfuckers who exhibit between zero and no personality, and are generally dumb as a sack of dead snaffles!

 

Look, I generalize here--there are a few cool Mounties--SEF for one; but the majority that I have met (and I’ve been acquainted with many), were single individuals whose personalities certainly accounted for their singleness. I categorize Mountie personalities as follows:

 

Hitler Complex:

“You skinning little shit! You know nothing! Fuck your bolen as a tie in knot!!! You must use the rewoven figure-8 because the bolen isn’t in mein bible “The Freedom of the Hills”. I am your Fuhrer--worship me!

 

Psycho:

“Yeah, like I once knew this guy you fell and, like totally smashed his face—hehe, it was cool.”

 

Bragger:

“I like totally didn’t join the Mountaineers because I needed to learn anything—I’ve been climbing for years. Like, last week I totally redpointed Saber on Castle Rock!”

 

Tries to be cool by dropping names of actual cool people met:

“Like I was totally taking to Jim Nelson the other day—you know Jim? Oh he’s like this totally cool dude; I talk to him at this store all the time. Anyway, Jim and I were discussing conditions, and….”

“I was up at Muir the other day and like ran into Mike Gautier. Yeah, I know Mike—read his book and everything; guy’s totally sweeeet! I’ll introduce you to him sometime—we’re like best buddies.”

 

Tries to be cool by acknowledging other's accomplishments:

“So like my friend last year climbed Denali—sweet huh?”

“I have a friend who’s LEAD Outerspace”

“My cousin summited Rainier last year--yeah, with RMI--he clicked w/Geo Dunn—they might climb together privately”

 

Horny (Desperate):

“So like, maybe when this class is done, we can climb together sometime. I have a car. I’ll pay for gas. What do you say? Maybe I could call you tonight—you know, get some dates one the calendar. Are you married?”

 

Liar:

“I was so totally one of Dan -’s timers.”

“I think 5.10 is like so easy”

“I soloed Rainier (almost).”

“I AM Dan -.”

 

Ok, so these categories aren’t necessarily limited to Mounties (seems like half the Pub clubbers fit into these categories as well). I’m mostly just entertaining myself here folks, don’t take me too seriously.

 

Edited May 8, 2003 by thelawgod

[adventuregal]

Ok, so here's a sort of related question. I want to do A LOT of climbing this summer... Not only climb, but learn a ton more about it too. I am a newbie of a mere 3 months. The thing I worry about, seeing as how I have no experience, is how to know if my partners are safe?! I have nothing to compare them to! I think I know most of the people I plan on climbing with well enough to trust them. But say I meet some random in HR and decide to climb with them? What do I look for in a partner? I know a very minimal amount of safety stuff. And no, I won't have time to take a class. Now that I am done with school and can leisure read again, there are a few books on my reading list which should help me out in this regard, but still... I get nervous about it. Any ideas?

[Sphinx]

[specialed]

thelawgod said:

The Mounties suck goat balls! .....

 

Actually sounds like a good cross-section of the climbing community as a whole

[Smoker]

dryad said:

I actually have had decent success with finding climbing partners on cc.com. But then again, I'm not a total beginner, meaning I have enough of a basic skillset to not make a complete nuisance of myself (at least I don't think I do ).

 

So whats the problem?

 

You've got some basic skills, folks have been willing to drag you about and yet...... you whine?

 

 

If your not getting return partners perhaps your not buying enough ? Or maybe your basic "skills" are a bit too "basic"? Who knows? Only you can answer these Q's

 

 

I have taken the time to climb with a few folks of various ability/experience and I seem to see 2 basic types of rookie.

 

Some climbers will question almost everything that happens i.e anchor inspection,rap stations (why do we back this up when we didn't before) belay stances etc.

 

Other climbers will simply follow leads, clean gear with out looking, clip into anchors without ever inspecting/comprehending what the nature of the anchor is etc....

 

the first type of climber will benefit from spending time with an experienced partner and improve their skills ultimatly becoming an asset to a partnership.

 

The second type will be a hazzard to climb with and they tend to want to get on the sharp end simply due to the amount time spent following.

 

I am painting with a fairly broad brush but this has been my experience....what camp is your tent pitched in?

 

 

Or you could look at it this way

 

For some of us climbing is a way of life

for others it is simply a sport

 

It's all good

[Winter]

A-Gal -

 

I think your answer depends on whether you're rock climbing or mountaineering. If you're into rock climbing, just go to the crags with them and keep an eye out to see if take of their shit. Its easy to bail from the top of French's.

 

If you're in the alpine its a bit tougher, but just start slow with them. There are so many awesome, long snow climbs around Hood River that there are plenty of places to go with a new person to check out their skills. Mostly trust your instincts and don't be affriad to speak up and make a decision for yourself.

[specialed]

adventuregal said:

Ok, so here's a sort of related question. I want to do A LOT of climbing this summer... Not only climb, but learn a ton more about it too. I am a newbie of a mere 3 months. The thing I worry about, seeing as how I have no experience, is how to know if my partners are safe?! I have nothing to compare them to! I think I know most of the people I plan on climbing with well enough to trust them. But say I meet some random in HR and decide to climb with them? What do I look for in a partner? I know a very minimal amount of safety stuff. And no, I won't have time to take a class. Now that I am done with school and can leisure read again, there are a few books on my reading list which should help me out in this regard, but still... I get nervous about it. Any ideas?

 

1. Just make sure you and your partner are double backed and tied in correctly

2. Communicate with your partner, make sure he/she's belaying you, and vice-versa and shit.

3. Don't repel off the end of your rope, make sure partner doesn't

4. When lowering don't run out of rope, make sure partner doesn't either

5. When setting anchors make sure no American Triangle, and that rope is not run directly thru bolts (I've seen that so many times, its sad really).

5. Smoke Pot = Double check Knot

 

Follow these 6 rules and You'll be just fine.

[dryad]

Smoker said:

So whats the problem?

 

No problem. My only point was that you have to get basic skills somewhere, and if you arrive in town not knowing anybody whatsoever and want to get into climbing, the mounties, for all their faults, might not be a bad place ot start. That's all.

[Thinker]

specialed said:

 

 

1. Just make sure you and your partner are double backed and tied in correctly

2. Communicate with your partner, make sure he/she's belaying you, and vice-versa and shit.

3. Don't repel off the end of your rope, make sure partner doesn't

4. When lowering don't run out of rope, make sure partner doesn't either

5. When setting anchors make sure no American Triangle, and that rope is not run directly thru bolts (I've seen that so many times, its sad really).

5. Smoke Pot = Double check Knot

 

Follow these 6 rules and You'll be just fine.

 

Ed, Your last post (except for #6, of course) makes you sound like you'd be the perfect climbing class instructor. I perceive patience, caring, attention to detail, and a fun-loving spirit. I think you should join one of the big groups and start a grass-roots revolution.

[AlpineK]

dryad said:

Smoker said:

So whats the problem?

 

No problem. My only point was that you have to get basic skills somewhere, and if you arrive in town not knowing anybody whatsoever and want to get into climbing, the mounties, for all their faults, might not be a bad place ot start. That's all.

 

I've told people in the past to join the mounties to meet people. I think now you've got better options that don't involve joining some club.

[specialed]

Thinker said:

 

Ed, Your last post (except for #6, of course) makes you sound like you'd be the perfect climbing class instructor. I perceive patience, caring, attention to detail, and a fun-loving spirit. I think you should join one of the big groups and start a grass-roots revolution.

 

Just got to keep it as simple as possible

[allthumbs]

it's mount a mountie week

e-ha

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

Would a copperheading mountie basher be a bashie mounter?

 

Indeed, they would.