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General Climbing Discussion

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Australian Ethics 25-Apr-2007 At 12:08:23 AM BigMike

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Well those are nice things to say .. and I'd never disrespect the legendary Hot Henry.

At the same time, I'd suggest that his "stepping up" here was possibly because he was a big fish in a small pond. In the US he was one of the elite, here he was the elite. He had the chance to do things that everyone else had tried and couldn't do. All eyes were on him. No wonder he "forced himself to stay on".

And it'd be a surprising thing if climbers weren't being bold elsewhere. Reading John Long's accounts of his formative years in Yosemite and J Tree - Long is a bit of a yarn spinner, but still, there was a lot of extremely sharp end climbing, according to him.

To shift back to your earlier post, referring to how climbers want to play it safe these days... I suggest that's because there are a hell of a lot more climbers now then, say, in the 70s. Most of us aren't envelope pushing bad boys with a belief in our own immortality. A lot of us are 40-something weekend warriors with creaking backs, bung knees, and a desire to have a bit of adventure but still get home in one piece on Sunday night!