matt_warfield Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) Spanx. Edited January 31, 2013 by matt_warfield Quote
matt_warfield Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) Dane's bullying me! make him stop! I have a hunch nobody has bully'd Dane in his entire life and been successful. Edited January 31, 2013 by matt_warfield Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) I'll bet Mighty Mouse could take him. Edited January 31, 2013 by tvashtarkatena Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) I'm inspired by my friends. How these reprobates get up anything, ever, with my somnambulent ass in tow even, remains a dark mystery. It is a testament to the quasi-human spirit. Edited January 31, 2013 by tvashtarkatena Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 And i think we can all come to a consensus that marigold, grey, black, and cream is the apex predator of color schemes for backcountry appearances. Accenting with a bold sky blue or less racey sage is fine, but lets leave the primaries and forest greens at home, shall we? Quote
matt_warfield Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Mighty Mouse was my hero growing up. Quote
CaleHoopes Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Pete, those poles look performance enhancing. And any true BC skier would do it without the headlamp at night... FAIL FAIL FAIL. Quote
ivan Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Give Twight his due...you either love his shit or hate it and hate him. Likely few inbetween. guess i'm one of the few - i geniunely could give a shit - reading about climbing is like watching porn - you're usally only taking in a small portion of the whole thing, and so long as it's got titties, it's all good - at any rate, it's hardly something to obsess over, unless you feel like your own sex (climing) life isn't enough to keep you satisifed... Quote
Alan Trick Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 reading about climbing is like watching porn Yeah, that pretty much nails it. Quote
ivan Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Ivan, you're a modern-day barbarian poet. that makes sense, like most poets i'm broke, and like most barbarians, i'm the one who takes out the trash every tuesday night Quote
Dane Posted January 31, 2013 Author Posted January 31, 2013 Bullied? Truth is I got a fair dose of it. And I over react when I see it now becasue of that experience. Sorry Mike Those that have most influenced alpine/ice climbing in the last 50 years for us in North America? Long list but four IMO stand head and shoulders above the rest. The reason...but not the only reason....is they made the effort to write. Chouinard Jeff Lowe John Bouchard Twight Quote
trainwreck Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 For cheating, I personally recommend Dexadrine. Quote
ivan Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 For cheating, I personally recommend Dexadrine. no bad for producing fine literature like "on the road" neither Quote
ivan Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 to stay on theme, sapho juice also works wonders i hear Quote
matt_warfield Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 (edited) Bullied? Truth is I got a fair dose of it. And I over react when I see it now becasue of that experience. Sorry Mike Those that have most influenced alpine/ice climbing in the last 50 years for us in North America? Long list but four IMO stand head and shoulders above the rest. The reason...but not the only reason....is they made the effort to write. Chouinard Jeff Lowe John Bouchard Twight Dane, what about House? Maybe he didn't write but he climbed. A lot and hard. Edited February 1, 2013 by matt_warfield Quote
Dane Posted February 1, 2013 Author Posted February 1, 2013 Matt my list is the guys who have most influenced alpine and ice climbing in NA not the guys that were the best ice or alpine climbers in the last 40 years. Sure the four I have listed climbed. But much more importantly to the sport IMO they wrote about it. They taught by writing. House no doubt climbs really hard. He has certainly climbed harder or as hard as anyone listed. But as a public figure or a writer he has a very small profile IMO compared to the rest at the moment. I really liked House's first book. Bought early copies for myself and friends. Certainly easier for me to read than most of Mark's stuff. And in conversation I know House has some big plans for upcoming writng projects. I am excited about them! I would expect Steve House to walk into that arena shortly and add a couple of big steps to our knowledlge base. But he has yet to do it. I have no doubt he has the ability and drive to get it done. My bet is we have a lot to look forward to when it happens. Quote
ScaredSilly Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Those that have most influenced alpine/ice climbing in the last 50 years for us in North America? Long list but four IMO stand head and shoulders above the rest. The reason...but not the only reason....is they made the effort to write. Chouinard, Jeff Lowe, John Bouchard, Twight I am not sure writing has anything to do with it. While some were writing others were being written about. When I first thought about the list I tired to think about in 10-15 year increments over the past 40 years as originally stated (not 50 years as stated above). My first thought was Lowe, as in George, Jeff, and Alex. But upon reflection I started thinking about Beckey, Chouinard, and Twight. Certainly in the modern era Mark has had influence because of his writing. However, others did similar ascents just did not feel the need to pontificate as much. That said Mark's most recent comments are 35 years late and are quite trite. If he had written it a year ago most folks would go meh. Messner argued quite successfully about climbing via fair means some 35 years ago. The only reason anybody is thinking about the whole cheating issue is because of Armstrong's confession. So Mark's comments are really nothing more than a piggy back ride from the cycling world to the alpinism world (pun intended). So that from that respect nothing to see, time to move along. Quote
BirdDog Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 For fun name the three most influencial contributors to the NA alpine climbing community over the last 40 years. I have a short list. What is yours? Beckey- cause he wrote the book(s) on beta. Ome Daiber- cause if you couldn't follow Fred's beta (take obvious jam crack to summit - time 1/2 hour.), you could be rescued. Warren Harding- showed us anything was possible; ethics be damned. Quote
Off_White Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Dane, your initial question only mentioned NA alpine climbing, so I don't thing Chouinard makes the cut. If you're talking ice climbing, he certainly does, especially for folks of our generation, Climbing Ice was a hugely influential book that educated a lot of people, myself included. However, in terms of alpine stuff, not so much. Twight has a gift for shameless self promotion and a love of language, as well as the ability to write in his own voice, that has made him influential. Controversial maybe, but I think that's been by design, and he certainly sparks conversation. He hasn't lacked for skill either, but that alone doesn't make one influential, its the ability to project yourself and your ideas into the world that provide the influential part. I doubt anyone on your blog will spark a response from him if they're talking about climbing, but I found that questioning his taste in music can summon him from his lair. By "NA alpine climbing community" do you mean with regards to alpine climbing in North America, or North American climbers who might be climbing abroad? If the former, I think a case could be made for the influence of this site, if not in the top three then certainly in the top 10. Anyone who was climbing in the Cascades in the late 70's or early 80's ever had much of an idea what was going on outside their own small circle of partners. There were years and years that all I knew was the Beckey guides, what showed up in the AAJ or CAJ, and the things I did myself. I never ran into other climbers, whether it was Boston Basin, Mt Stuart, or Washington Pass, and Colchuck Lake was just about the only place I can recall running into others and discussing routes. This site with the social connection and vast array of TR's has completely changed climbing in the North Cascades. For that matter, if we're talking Cascades, I throw John Scurlock in as a game changer too. Quote
Dane Posted February 1, 2013 Author Posted February 1, 2013 "Those that have most influenced alpine/ice climbing in the last 50 years for us in North America?" Just my take on the last 50 years of "influence". Influence not their climbing resumes. Who in the community made a difference to me...and by my own experience and assumptions the bigger community at large. I've known many of the players in NA alpinism in the last 40 years personally. Of those few have directly influenced several generations to any extent...in my opinion of course. Yours may be different for any number of reasons and just as valid to you. Any form of cyber media? Different context. But I might agree with that idea. CC.com? Once you filter through all the bs here (as any forum is prone to) it can be a good resource. If one wants to bother. Quote
Peter_Puget Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 (edited) I have always thought Twight a bit banal and most certainly not a leader by any means - although he was a propagandist. I can remember reading over and over a Alex MacItyre interview in High. Reading the exploits of kurtyka. True these guys aren't NA but they did change climbing. Had that group never existed climbing would be different. Had Twight never existed climbing would be essentially the same. I think that by limiting to NA the true sources of influence are removed. Edited February 1, 2013 by Peter_Puget Quote
montypiton Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 ice influence in the last 5o years? -- Will Gadd? don't know about alpine, but difficult to ignore regarding ice for the past 25 years or so... Quote
rob Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 My biggest climbing influences have all been people I knew -- climbing partners, mentors (miss you, dan ) and acquaintances. I'll never forget sitting at the belay below givler's crack and seeing Layton come soloing up next to me looking for a route, cigarette in mouth. Or seeing pictures of Ivan's alpine cape on dragontail during a thunder and hail storm. Or watching Tvash change his shoes half-way up a slab with no pro in. Or cutting a stuck rope off-route on cutthroat with Dan, or that time we tried to climb Ptarmigan in winter during a powder storm (what were we thinking and why didnt we just go skiing?) Maybe I'm simple, but stuff like that has had a much longer lasting impression on me than any of the climbing celebrities and attention-seekers like Twight, et al. And I suppose it sounds corny, but I'd rather read cc.com than books on climbing written by guys I don't even know. Quote
Dane Posted February 1, 2013 Author Posted February 1, 2013 Agreed Monty..Gadd certainly should have been listed there as well. Will is hard not to like in person or his writing. Thanks for pointing that out, my mistake. Historically I think it is pretty tough to look at climbers you have known personally and make a good assessment of their contributions. "Alex MacItyre interview in High. Reading the exploits of kurtyka. True these guys aren't NA but they did change climbing. Had that group never existed climbing would be different. Had Twight never existed climbing would be essentially the same." Certainly you got the first half of that right. I would disagree on the 2nd. Quote
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