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Are guidbooks killing the adventure climb ? 21-Sep-2007 At 12:46:23 PM Organ Pipe

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Are guidebooks killing the adventure climb?

Dunno, but marriage, work, and other commitments certainly prevent me from rocking up to a crag, looking for a nice line, and having a crack.

I like to cram as much climbing into my weekends at Araps as possible, and I'm usually with pertners less experienced than I, so planning our climbs ahead of time helps to make valuable use of our time.

I'd love to put up a wicked FA, but at this stage in my climbing 'career' I'm still working through other peoples classics and paying my respect there.

To kind of answer the question though, I recognise that to many climbers, my seeking masses of detailed bata for particular routes (my planned trip to the Seventh Pillar for example) does remove alot of the adventure and fun from the outing, but to me, It's worth it as I dont get to climb at these stunning locations often, and when I'm there, would be devistated if I had to turn back due to incorrect gear, or the like.

On 20/09/2007 andesite wrote:
>What'd the wrinkly guy with the multicoloured hair say in the 'First Ascent' DVD ->Something like
>"If you're not doing new routes... you're just jacking."

This is true, he did say that, but dont forget at the end of the film, the film maker and narrator Peter Mortimer says something like: "We've become so fixated by First Ascents, being the first, that we've lost sight of what's important. The beauty of the stone, the awesome moves, being part of the community etc, sharing such good times..."

Cheers!