What do we climb for?

[Crackbolter]

The rules of the game must be constantly updated to keep up with the expanding technology. Otherwise we overkill the classic climbs and delude ourselves into thinking we are better climbers than the pioneers.

 

Yvon Chouinard

[sk]

interesting "quote". what was it in reference to?

[Rodchester]

What do we climb for?

 

Well I can say what we (or at least I) don't climb for...money...beer...chicks...prestige.

 

Good quote though.....

[erik]

here's the whole quote one of my favorites.

 

A Word

The 1960s marked an awakening in American climbing characterized by a vast increase in climbing activity closely paralleled by a corresponding improvement in technique and equipment. Significant climbing advances have resulted. On the other hand, this combination is producing a serious problem — deterioration of the climbing environment. The deterioration is two-fold, involving the physical aspect of the mountains and the moral integrity of the climbers.

No longer can we assume the Earth's resources are limitless; that there are ranges of unclimbed peaks extending endlessly beyond the horizon. Mountains are finite, and despite their massive appearance, they are fragile.

 

Although alpine tundra, meadows, trees, lakes and streams are all endangered, our primary concern here is with deterioration of the rock itself. Granite is delicate and soft — much softer than the alloy steel pitons being hammered into it. On popular routes in Yosemite and elsewhere, the cracks are degenerating into series of piton holes. Flakes and slabs are being pried loose and broken off as a result of repeated placement and removal of hard pitons.

 

We can offer a few immediate solutions. Stay off climbs you do not intend to finish. Don't climb up to Sickle Ledge unless you plan to do the entire Nose. Do not use artificial aid on free climbs. But most of all, start using chocks. Chocks and runners are not damaging to the rock and provide a pleasurable and practical alternative to pitons on most free, and many artificial climbs. Do not use pitons on established clean routes. Where a piton is necessary, a fixed piton should be considered and documented in local guidebooks. Routes of 5.7 difficulty were climbed 60 years ago in England. Today the footholds on these routes are well polished, but because pitons have not been used, the protection cracks are still in mint condition.

Equally serious is a moral deterioration. Armed with ever more advanced gadgetry and techniques, the style of technical climbing is gradually becoming so degraded that elements vital to the climbing experience — adventure and appreciation of the mountain environment itself — are being submerged. Siege tactics, bolt ladders, bat hooks, bash chocks, detailed topos and equipment lists, plus a guaranteed rescue, diminish rather than enhance a climb. Even now, existing techniques and technology are so powerful that almost any climb imaginable can be realized, and the fear of the unknown reduced to rote exercise.

Mad bolters are among the worst offenders of the alpine environment. Young climbers must learn that bolting is done as a substitute for climbing. Guides, climbing schools and established climbers have a heavy responsibility here.

We believe the only way to ensure the climbing experience for ourselves and future generations is to preserve (1) the vertical wilderness, and (2) the adventure inherent in the experience. Really, the only insurance to guarantee this adventure and the safest insurance to maintain it is exercise of moral restraint and individual responsibility.

Thus, it is the style of the climb, not the attainment of the summit, which is the measure of personal success. Traditionally stated, each of us must consider whether the end is more important than the means. Given the vital importance of style, we suggest that the keynote is simplicity. The fewer gadgets between the climber and the climb, the greater the chance to attain the desired communication with oneself — and nature.

As we enter this new era of mountaineering, re-examine your motives for climbing. Employ restraint and good judgment. Remember the rock, the other climbers — climb clean.

 

-YVON CHOUINARD

[Bronco]

I am not hacking on anybody in particular, maybe Erik, but, all this philisophical crap makes me want to go commune with nature (not really).

 

I climb 'cause it's fun and it's good for you. And all the KEWL people you meet.

[Son_of_Caveman]

to pick up chicks

 

they dig our mojo

 

[ruddersbox]

I only climb to post my pictures on Summitpost.com... And then revel in all the 4 star ratings which I later brag about, to the climbing counter person at REI.

[thelawgoddess]

quote:

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to pick up chicks

---

interesting ...

 

as a chick i never thought of climbing as a way to pick up dudes.

 

you guys aren't all that cute, you know.

[Son_of_Caveman]

i'm not talking about picking up climber chicks. i only climb roadside to impress the hotties driving by on their way to WSU.

[erik]

quote:

---

Originally posted by thelawgoddess:

quote:

---

to pick up chicks

---

interesting ...

 

as a chick i never thought of climbing as a way to pick up dudes.

 

you guys aren't all that cute, you know.

---

i rock the dome!!! and crank the big stone!! unattainable!!!

 

[ 05-01-2002, 01:22 PM: Message edited by: erik ]

[ruddersbox]

I love road dome on the way to the roadside crag...

**********Lawgoddess has a hot website**********

[Son_of_Caveman]

what the hell are you talking about rudder?? if she was truly a goddess, she'd bless us with a self-portrait of adaquate size and quality to make our own appraisal.

[ruddersbox]

hot website w/ no pic=butt bod

no pic means its safe to assume beer goggles are inorder...

[sk]

shallow boys you are. Perhaps lawgoddes is quite beautiful, with a hot bod, just interested in other human traits.

[Son_of_Caveman]

yea, right...why didn't i think of that??

[ruddersbox]

where is sk's pic...?

[sk]

site under construction... Keep checking craghag.com

[ruddersbox]

Hopefully craghag will turn out to be crag hottie.

 

[thelawgoddess]

quote:

---

if she was truly a goddess, she'd bless us with a self-portrait of adaquate size and quality to make our own appraisal.

---

lol; there's good reason my website isn't plastered with pictures of myself - it's not *that* kind of site, thank you!

 

honestly, though, i don't photograph well.

 

in any case, appraisals are best made crag-side.

 

and i climb because i love climbing.

[erik]

quote:

---

Originally posted by thelawgoddess:

[

honestly, though, i don't photograph well.

 

[/QB]

---

WELL I SEEN YOU IN SQUISH A CUOPLE WEEKS AGO

 

BUT I HAVE ONE QUESTION? HOW DOES ONE NOT PHOTOGRAPH WELL?? DOES THE CAMERA BREAK?? I HAVE HEARD THIS BEFORE, BUT NEVER INQUIRED TO WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANT.

[thelawgoddess]

quote:

---

BUT I HAVE ONE QUESTION? HOW DOES ONE NOT PHOTOGRAPH WELL?? DOES THE CAMERA BREAK?? I HAVE HEARD THIS BEFORE, BUT NEVER INQUIRED TO WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANT.

[/QB]

---

geez; i hope i'm not *that* ugly!!! it basically means that the subject either looks better or markedly different in person.

 

(my cat has the same problem - he looks like hell in pictures, but up close and personal he's just a big ball of fur.)

 

personally, i just don't like pictures. of myself, i mean. except for the one in my passport.

[erik]

L.G.

 

i was giving you cheers!!!

 

enjoy time to ride my bike!!

[Crackbolter]

quote:

---

Originally posted by thelawgoddess:

quote:

---

BUT I HAVE ONE QUESTION? HOW DOES ONE NOT PHOTOGRAPH WELL?? DOES THE CAMERA BREAK?? I HAVE HEARD THIS BEFORE, BUT NEVER INQUIRED TO WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANT.

---

geez; i hope i'm not *that* ugly!!! it basically means that the subject either looks better or markedly different in person.

 

(my cat has the same problem - he looks like hell in pictures, but up close and personal he's just a big ball of fur.)

 

personally, i just don't like pictures. of myself, i mean. except for the one in my passport.

[/QB]

---

She must be brilliant. Although, I do have rules about women with cats. They never seem to leave the house. Perhaps she climbs hard and can school us all? Man that would be cool. I only know a few but they are all cool cats.

[thelawgoddess]

what do you mean they never leave the house? the women or the cats??? my cat's a serious homebody, but not me - no way. my cat's self-sufficient enough to survive 5 or 6 days alone ... should the ski conditions warrant it.

 

i don't know about schooling any of you guys - at least not in the climbing realm, as i'm fairly new to it myself. but i definitely climb hard and am hoping to improve my skills at a death-defying rate.

[Crackbolter]

I like the keynote of SIMPLICITY.

 

Here is another...

 

To put yourself into a situation where a mistake cannot necessarily be recouped, where the life you lose may be your own, clears the head wonderfully. It puts domestic problems back into proportion and adds an element of seriousness to your drab, routine life. Perhaps this is one reason why climbing has become increasingly hard as society has become increasingly, disproportionately, coddling.

 

-A. Alvarez