we suck

[Pete_H]

Hell yeah.

[pope]

But, you're a coach, right? football?

Been a few years. They needed somebody in the building and asked me. With no football experience, I came to enjoy both the game and coaching and worked ten years before I knew it. Best job I ever had.

 

 

...would you like climbing offered as a competitive sport in high school? don't you think that would be fun to coach? or is that aspect of the sport anathema to you?

I guess it could fly. Seems kind of boring to watch, but I can imagine kids getting hooked on it....I sure did.

 

 

 

..i know you like the athleticism and the competition, having worked on boulder probs with you at the uw rock. oh btw, where's that keg of koenigshoeven?

That's a part of climbing, no doubt. Especially in a gym or at the UW. Out at the cliffs it always feels more like mountaineering to me, where I'm less concerned about what the next party is doing and more into the beauty and challenge of climbing a given route.

 

Everybody gets something different out of it and that's the way it should be. I can't help believing that an obsession with competition is what ultimately persuaded American rock climbers to embrace rap bolting.

 

[cascadesdj]

Grid Bolting in America is a myth.

 

Really? There's quite a few crags es in your own backyard you should take a look at. And pretty much any route put up by Leland Windham.

OK by me. I prefer having lots of pro. I liked IB, especially the last 3 pitches with the great air. And Cond Addict. And the new 8 pitch one up the NF Teanaway. All cool, safe, and fun. Well, parts of IB maybe not so safe, especially when pulling rope on descent, thereby knocking rocks all over the route.

[Dane]

I know a bunch of guys past 50 all pulling .11s or harder....trad not sport.

 

When it comes to ice all of us are climbing harder on ice and mixed now than we ever did.....simply because the newest gear makes it easier. A lot easier.

 

You may well suck. In the grand scheme of things...don't agree we all do

 

That said everyone should climb more and harder...as often as possible!

[JosephH]

...would you like climbing offered as a competitive sport in high school? don't you think that would be fun to coach? or is that aspect of the sport anathema to you?

 

Kids Scale the Walls, and the Principal Approves

[Kimmo]

And I agree, fasting on occasion is a great health maintenance tool. And on occasion, I will fast for up to a week. But I confirmed many years ago that I personally am physically incapable of fasting and training hard at the same time for a multi-day period.

 

so did you actually try to train and fast at the same time? i read interesting stuff about some norwegians i think who partook of some weight training and a 10 day fast, and actually increased muscle mass in the trained area.

[G-spotter]

Says here Stevie haston just onsighted Didier Berthod's route "Greenspit" 13d/14a crack

 

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=383040

[el jefe]

guess sport climbing doesn't undermine one's trad skills after all..

[Bug]

guess sport climbing doesn't undermine one's trad skills after all..

Since you brought it up,........

Does that mean that all sportos can lead trad at the same grade they clip at?

Or,...what was your point?

[glassgowkiss]

guess sport climbing doesn't undermine one's trad skills after all..

Since you brought it up,........

Does that mean that all sportos can lead trad at the same grade they clip at?

Or,...what was your point?

The point is you can't lead 14a crack if you max out at 10a gear. So sport climbing gets you stronger quicker, as you increase both difficulty and mileage without fear of dying.

[whirlwind]

you think part of that is because there you can climb yr round without much hassele, unlike the rainy nw where all there is to do some times is whatch the rain and or go fail in a gym

[whirlwind]

thats true too. i was leading 10b's and c's within a few weeks of learning to lead on sport, and my trad skill never got much over 10b after like 6 yrs of climbing

Edited November 30, 2009 by whirlwind

[NWnNE]

first post here on cc, though i gotta say, you all have given me many laughs and much inspiration over the many months i've been a non-posting member (no disrespect but i check CC mostly during my time on the shitter) ...

 

I just had to give my support to stevetimetravlr and Pete_H in regards to brews and climbing. listen, if you're going to send 5.14 sport, so be it, you already know it. if you want to send 5.13 sport, then train a little harder, push it, if you're thinking it then you're on the cusp anyway. if your thinking you might be able to send 5.12, well maybe go for a run or two, crank a few pullups, focus on the feet, its within everyone's reach (really). apart from all this chasing is this: ultimately, if i crank out some RP of a sport route project i might get high on that for a day or two, where as if i go out and climb some alpine 5.4 for a few days with an old high-school friend and drink more than a few brews at night, or on the bumper of the car after, i'll actually remember that with a little fondness. Or like stevetimetravlr, say i drink a couple beers and hit up the rock at UW during a hot summer night? I'll remember that too (and i do fondly). will i climb 5.13 sport? well, not unless i curtail the beer intake, but thats the point exactly... brew is the death of us as much as it is the life of us. I have put a lot of time and energy into my sport projects and when i send, well, I'm psyched for maybe a day or two, when i don't, well, it's ok, because ultimately, what makes me happy is climbing with friends; trad or sport, ice or rock, even plastic, as long as i know that what really matters is that climbing is only fun because i care about the people i climb with, no matter how hard they climb. call me an alcoholic, call me a pussy, call me whatever, but ultimately, i could really care less about some old guy cranking 14's in Europe, i climb with oldies cranking 13's weekly, what makes the difference is that they know what i know: climbing is cool because it's not about being good, its about living well, in every aspect that "well" encompasses.

 

2cents

 

 

 

[el jefe]

guess sport climbing doesn't undermine one's trad skills after all..

Since you brought it up,........

Does that mean that all sportos can lead trad at the same grade they clip at?

Or,...what was your point?

 

i didn't think my comment was all that complicated but evidently i've over-estimated bug's acumen.

 

my point was that according to the rhetoric of the anti-bolt wingnuts hiding out in the pacific northwest rainforests, clipping bolts induces a peculiar palsy of the intellect that renders one incapable of deciphering how to drop a stopper into a constriction or mastering the complicated machinery of spring loaded camming devices, yet mr haston's achievement vis-a-vis his onsight of "greenspit" would seem to contradict this rhetoric, just as it would also seem to contradict the notion that bolt-clipping causes the testicles to atrophy and thus render the climber incapable of upward movement in the absence of bolts. i never made any assertion regarding the abilities of sport climbers to climb trad in general, only that sport climbing well didn't seem to preclude someone from also climbing trad well. or is my interpretation of haston's achievement incorrect?

[G-spotter]

What is a sport climber and what is a trad climber?

 

I know a modicum of trad climbers who never clip bolts, but many more sport climbers who are scared of cams, nuts and the possibility of being more than 3 feet from a bolt.

 

Then there are climbers who do both. If someone climbs both sport and trad, it would seem more accurate to call them a trad climber than a sport climber. Or maybe just a climber.

[el jefe]

What is a sport climber and what is a trad climber?

 

I know a modicum of trad climbers who never clip bolts, but many more sport climbers who are scared of cams, nuts and the possibility of being more than 3 feet from a bolt.

 

Then there are climbers who do both. If someone climbs both sport and trad, it would seem more accurate to call them a trad climber than a sport climber. Or maybe just a climber.

 

exactly.

[NWnNE]

booo ya

 

i may be young, but in my eyes, "being a climber in today's age," means climbing on bolts, cams, nuts, screws, gym beams, and plastics finish holds. keep in mind I'm noting "today's age." yes you can be a sport hater, a comp killer, bolt chopper, but ultimately, participating in this "sport" (and i use those quotation marks carefully and reluctantly btw), means doing it all. to "climb" today, as a youth, means following tape, clipping bolts, leaning about and placing nuts and cams, placing screws, etc. if you can't read a topo you cant send the classic, but if you cant read the tape you cant send the gyn classic... in the end it's about confrontation with challenge, respect that, who gives a fuck in the end... there's a online forum about this now, all to be awash in cyberspace by the time my unborn kid gives any fuck about scaling anything other than the jungle gym.

 

 

[RuMR]

best post yet...

[kevbone]

 

"being a climber in today's age," means climbing on bolts, cams, nuts, screws, gym beams, and plastics finish holds.

 

To climb means to ascend.

[Kimmo]

 

"being a climber in today's age," means climbing on bolts, cams, nuts, screws, gym beams, and plastics finish holds.

 

To climb means to ascend.

 

exactly. everything else is just conceptual identity seeking. you're a "climber" while you are actually engaged in the act of "climbing"; everything else is just conceptuaql carry-over baggage.

 

and even if one adopts the silly moniker of "climber", it has nothing to do with what type of climbing one does.

[Kimmo]

Says here Stevie haston just onsighted Didier Berthod's route "Greenspit" 13d/14a crack

 

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=383040

 

 

fuuuuuckkk yeah!

 

 

that's badass. fully inspiring.

[Kimmo]

listen, if you're going to send 5.14 sport, so be it, you already know it.

 

?

where would be the fun if you already knew you'd send a particular route (grade)? sounds like dwayner with his 5.13's.

 

 

ultimately, if i crank out some RP of a sport route project i might get high on that for a day or two, where as if i go out and climb some alpine 5.4 for a few days with an old high-school friend and drink more than a few brews at night, or on the bumper of the car after, i'll actually remember that with a little fondness. Or like stevetimetravlr, say i drink a couple beers and hit up the rock at UW during a hot summer night? I'll remember that too (and i do fondly). will i climb 5.13 sport? well, not unless i curtail the beer intake, but thats the point exactly... brew is the death of us as much as it is the life of us. I have put a lot of time and energy into my sport projects and when i send, well, I'm psyched for maybe a day or two, when i don't, well, it's ok, because ultimately, what makes me happy is i sthat it's everyone's game, and climbing with friends; trad or sport, ice or rock, even plastic, as long as i know that what really matters is that climbing is only fun because i care about the people i climb with, no matter how hard they climb. call me an alcoholic, call me a pussy, call me whatever, but ultimately, i could really care less about some old guy cranking 14's in Europe, i climb with oldies cranking 13's weekly, what makes the difference is that they know what i know: climbing is cool because it's not about being good, its about living well, in every aspect that "well" encompasses.

 

2cents

 

 

 

nice 2 cents, but what's cool about climbing is that you can get siked about whatever aspect you want (actually this has nothing to do with what's cool about climbing!) . i've done pretty much all the varieties of climbing, be it aid, wall, trad etc etc, but what i always come back to is sport and bouldering, cuz that's what gets me in the end. it's what i remember. actually i remember being benighted on particular wall climbs quite well, and although it has its charm, it's not something i'm running out to repeat.

 

and haston onsiting 13d 14a crack? shit, you don't have much appreciation for the sport you're engaged in if you don't appreciate that! that's like playing basketball and not appreciating (understanding?) pistol pete maravich, or steve nash; like being into chess and not appreciating (understanding?) bobby fischer; gymnastics and not appreciating the chinese dude who effed up the rings in the last olympics.

 

maybe it's the alcohol?

[Pete_H]

We are obviously most passionate about different styles of climbing. While I love bouldering and sport climbing, long trad routes are what draws me to the sport more than anything. Regardless, I still fail to see how having a couple beers every now and then would have any effect on one's climbing performance.

 

 

[Kimmo]

you kidder you. i inadvertently almost FA'd a 13b after two bottles of czech beer.

 

i think you could be a functioning alcoholic and still rp 5.13 or 5.14. like a 6 pack a day kind of thing. mebbe more. half rack even. so there.

 

and i appreciate your passion regarding long trad. fun stuff.

[Pete_H]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating drinking while climbing. Maybe now and then while toproping. Czech beer sure is gut though!