First Ascent Psychology

[olyclimber]

verstiegenheit

low-bavarian for something like "wandering alone in blasted disorienting territory beyond all charted limits and orienting markers", supposedly....

 

has anyone seen any good papers written on this group psychosis?

[olyclimber]

at his slide show Donini said he liked climbing new routes because they are "less crowded"

[Weekend_Climberz]

at his slide show Donini said he liked climbing new routes because they are "less crowded"

 

Also he said, "If you don't make it to the top of a new route, it's much less embarassing!"

[Drederek]

Climber's Guide to the Olympic Mountains

[G-spotter]

Versteigenheit = 12d on Yam

[Cairns]

Versteigenheit = 12d on Yam

 

= Shepp?

 

bit of a departure namewise from "Shepp's 13" and "Shepp's other 13"

[lancegranite]

I like the taste of moss...

[Distel32]

I remember my first FA at goldbar, 2003

 

a little shitty v3 ditty.....

[catbirdseat]

Yeah, if you fail on a boulder problem no body cares. If you succeed, they still don't care.

[still_climbin]

For me more like gesundheit than verstiegheit. Nothing like a face shot of moss and bat sh*t in the morning. In the 60's in Eastern Washington and Idaho you had to do FA's if you wanted to climb.

Edited March 14, 2006 by still_climbin

[Gary_Yngve]

You can only count FAs on boulders if they have a prominence of at least 10 feet.

[olyclimber]

Ludwig Binswanger....what a name....considered the founder of existential philosophy.

 

"Human existence projects itself in breadth, and in height; it not only strides forth, but also mounts upward. In both respects, therefore, it is possible for human existence to go too far, to become Extravagant....to throw down on a mad crazy boulder problem..."

[archenemy]

You can only count FAs on boulders if they have a prominence of at least 10 feet.

That doesn't sound very prominent...

[G-spotter]

Versteigenheit = 12d on Yam

 

= Shepp?

 

bit of a departure namewise from "Shepp's 13" and "Shepp's other 13"

 

And "Shep's Other Rig" and "Shep's Diner"?

[lancegranite]

You can only count FAs on boulders if they have a prominence of at least 10 feet.

[olyclimber]

Loneliness is an unhappy compound of having lost one's point of reference, of suffering the fate of individual and collective discontinuity and of living through or dying from a crisis of identity to the point of alienation of one's self.

[archenemy]

Exactly what I was thinking

[olyclimber]

i knew you would be there for me, archenemy

[archenemy]

i knew you would be there for me, archenemy

[olyclimber]

A CRAVING FOR AROUSAL

 

Yet as far back as the 1950s, research was hinting at alternative explanations. British psychologist Hans J. Eysenck developed a scale to measure the personality trait of extroversion, now one of the most consistent predictors of risk taking. Other studies revealed that, contrary to Freud, the brain not only craved arousal, but somehow regulated that arousal at an optimal level. Over the next three decades, researchers extended these early findings into a host of theories about risk taking.

 

Some scientists, like UC-Davis's Maddi and Wisconsin's Farley, concentrate on risk taking primarily as a cognitive or behavioral phenomenon. Maddi sees risk taking as an element of a larger personality dimension he calls "hardiness," which measures individuals' sense of control over their environment and their willingness to seek out challenges. Farley regards risk-taking more as a whole personality type. Where other researchers speak of Type A and B personalities, Farley adds Type T, for thrill seeking. He breaks Type-T behavior into four categories: T-mental and T-physical, to distinguish between intellectual and physical risk taking; and T-negative and T-positive, to distinguish between productive and destructive risk taking.

 

A second line of research focuses on risks biological roots. A pioneer in these studies is psychologist Marvin Zuckerman at the University of Delaware. He produced a detailed profile of the high-sensation seeking (HSS) personality. HSS individuals, or "highs," as Zuckerman calls them, are typically impulsive, uninhibited, social, and tend toward liberal political views. They like high-stimulus activities, such as loud rock music or pornographic or horror movies, yet are rarely satisfied by vicarious thrills. Some level of actual risk--whether physical, social, or legal-seems necessary. Highs tend to be heavy bettors. They may try many kinds of drugs and favor sports like skiing or mountain climbing to running or gymnastics. Highs also show a clear aversion to low-sensation situations, otherwise known as boredom.

 

High-sensation seeking plays a huge role in relationships. Highs favor friends with interesting or offbeat life-styles, and avoid boring people. They're also far more sexually permissive, particularly in the number of sex partners, than lows. Highs favor mates with similar proclivities for stimulation, while lows generally pair off with other lows. And woe, apparently, to those who break this rule. "The combination of a high- and a low-sensation seeker," says Zuckerman, "seems to put the marriage relationship at risk."

 

Indeed, one benefit of such research is that it can be applied to many areas of everyday life. Those seeking mates, the University of Wisconsin's Farley says, should focus on those who share their level of risk taking, particularly in terms of sexual habits. Likewise, thrill seekers should also look for the right level of on-the-job excitement. "If you're a Big T type working on a microchip assembly line, you're going to be miserable," Farley predicts. "But if you're Big T on a big daily newspaper or a police force, where you never know what you'll be doing next, you're probably going to thrive."

 

Many climbers fit the HSS profile. Many report difficulty keeping full-time jobs, either because the work bores them, or because it interferes with their climbing schedule. Long-term relationships can be problematic, especially where climbers marry nonclimbers, or where one partner begins losing interest in the sport. Non-climbing partners often complain that their spouses spend too much time away from home, or refuse to commit to projects (children, for example) that might interfere with climbing. Relationships are also strained by the ever-present threat of injury or death. As one Midwestern climber puts it, "the possibility that I might miss dinner, forever, doesn't make things any smoother."

 

Further, while many climbers are models of clean living, the sport has its share of hard partiers. Some even boast of making first ascents while high on marijuana or hallucinogens like LSD. Climbers say such drugs enhance or intensify the climbing experience. But studies suggest that the drugs may also mimic the process that pushes climbers in the first place.

[archenemy]

That's me. So far, the only part I am not so good at is avoiding boring people.

[olyclimber]

that is indeed the difficulty. that and maintaining conciousness.

[RuMR]

You can only count FAs on boulders if they have a prominence of at least 10 feet.

 

fuck you guys!

[archenemy]

All of them? You fit into the risk-takers group as well.

[RuMR]

oh my bad...i thought it said "you must be taller than this to climb"