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Stupid AP Article on Rock Climbing


jon

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"And Cathedral Peak, a 10,900-foot temple of rock rising from the sub-alpine Tuolumne Meadows, is often where newcomers start.

 

Rookie Ha Pham, 23, hopes to venture up it eventually, but said she was concerned the conditions she'd find wouldn't meet her standards.

 

"They should have signs and stuff and trash cans outside," said Pham, who climbs regularly in the safety of a San Francisco gym. "I don't think they even clean your rocks off for you out there."

 

 

That is a journalistic gem.

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Rock climbers don't need a backcountry permit even if they spend the night slung off the side of El Capitan, the park's famed 7,560-foot granite tower, so McGahey stresses leave-no-trace camping techniques.

 

 

I don't know about anyone else, but I sure take all my stuff with me for the next day when I am on a bigwall.

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"And Cathedral Peak, a 10,900-foot temple of rock rising from the sub-alpine Tuolumne Meadows, is often where newcomers start.

 

Rookie Ha Pham, 23, hopes to venture up it eventually, but said she was concerned the conditions she'd find wouldn't meet her standards.

 

"They should have signs and stuff and trash cans outside," said Pham, who climbs regularly in the safety of a San Francisco gym. "I don't think they even clean your rocks off for you out there."

 

 

That is a journalistic gem.

that has to be some kind of mis quote or something becuase i can't even make sense of it. :confused:
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Hey, better than that, it shows the "gym rat" mind set.

 

Gyms are a great place to put bolts though, and a great place to do "practice climbing". Ive actually seen trash cans in them too, and you can even push and climb hard in them. I like gyms. Gyms aren't mountains though.

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Hey, better than that, it shows the "gym rat" mind set.

 

Gyms are a great place to put bolts though, and a great place to do "practice climbing". Ive actually seen trash cans in them too, and you can even push and climb hard in them. I like gyms. Gyms aren't mountains though.

I went into a climbing gym once.

 

I got out right before I vomited.

 

But to each his own.

 

What I think this article neglects to mention is what impact other outdoor seekers have on the place. Chubby suburbanites leaving wrappers around. Hikers wandering off trail. All that kind of stuff. I don't know for sure, but I swear that people have become more inconsiderate over time. They are more removed from the outdoors, less in touch with nature, and therefore less concerned about their impact on it. I don't think this is limited to or focused around climbers. I think it's just cool right now in the media to write about climbing and climbers.

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What I think this article neglects to mention is what impact other outdoor seekers have on the place. Chubby suburbanites leaving wrappers around. Hikers wandering off trail. All that kind of stuff. I don't know for sure, but I swear that people have become more inconsiderate over time. They are more removed from the outdoors, less in touch with nature, and therefore less concerned about their impact on it. I don't think this is limited to or focused around climbers. I think it's just cool right now in the media to write about climbing and climbers.

 

 

 

 

How long can we keep using that (and other) excuses? eventually you just gotta own it I think.

 

"They should have signs and stuff and trash cans outside," said Pham, who climbs regularly in the safety of a San Francisco gym. "I don't think they even clean your rocks off for you out there."

 

There is a little something wrong with this thinking, the media has a role to play in correcting it.

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Hey, better than that, it shows the "gym rat" mind set.

 

Gyms are a great place to put bolts though, and a great place to do "practice climbing". Ive actually seen trash cans in them too, and you can even push and climb hard in them. I like gyms. Gyms aren't mountains though.

I went into a climbing gym once.

 

I got out right before I vomited.

 

But to each his own.

 

What I think this article neglects to mention is what impact other outdoor seekers have on the place. Chubby suburbanites leaving wrappers around. Hikers wandering off trail. All that kind of stuff. I don't know for sure, but I swear that people have become more inconsiderate over time. They are more removed from the outdoors, less in touch with nature, and therefore less concerned about their impact on it. I don't think this is limited to or focused around climbers. I think it's just cool right now in the media to write about climbing and climbers.

 

I've done the Wonderland Trail 5 times, and I could always tell when I'm within 1/4 mile of a trailhead by the cigarette butts and Red Bull cans.

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There is a lot of truth to the article. That's not why I think it's stupid.

 

What they have essentially done is singled out what in reality is an incredibly small niche group (climbers) and then made a smaller niched group (gym to outdoor) that in reality leaves an incredibly small footprint (bolting debate aside), comparatively speaking. There are so many other issues environmentally and ecologically speaking that take such a higher priority I question the motive behind the authors topic choice other to write something that can only offend a limited few and stir debate.

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I don't know for sure, but I swear that people have become more inconsiderate over time. They are more removed from the outdoors, less in touch with nature, and therefore less concerned about their impact on it.

 

Well, I don't know about "inconsiderate" but in general, outdoor users have cleaned up our acts a LOT in the last couple decades.

 

I'm sure there's plenty here that remember the days when it was common practice to cut up trees for firewood and bedding, bury your garbage behind rocks, put your shit in a nice little bag and huck it off the cliff.... etc.

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I don't even understand this paragraph...

 

In Southern California's Joshua Tree National Park, boulders are riddled with holes and stakes marking climbing routes. Rangers say the problem is twofold: it alters the landscape for non-climbers visiting the park and accelerates erosion of the rock formations.
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