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Crag & Route Beta

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All NSW	(General)	(General)	(General)

Topic Date User

Rings on 15-Aug-2012 At 5:41:11 AM pmonks

Message

On 14/08/2012 One Day Hero wrote:
>Here's a couple of grey areas to test your highly developed moral compass.
> [snip artificially black and white scenarios and options]

Since when was this an either/or choice? I've been known to use any and all of the above strategies:

Saving routes for the onsight and then cruising them (e.g. Eternity and Psychopath at Piddo)

Launching up something when underprepared and getting my arse handed to me (e.g. Slider on Tibro)

Pushing the boat way out and living to tell the tale (e.g. unprotected horror show left of "CR" on the SRC crag at Bungonia)

Full-on jiggery pokery mode - try route, fall off route, abseil route, rebolt route, try route, fall off route, come back years later and wankpoint route (e.g. On Both Sides of the Glass at Narrowneck)

Cruisy day out just chilling and enjoying some fantastic locations (e.g. easy alpine routes in the Sierras, Margarine Ridge at Mt Hay, top roping days, etc. etc.)

I know this is probably going to blow your mind, but I'm going to let you in on a little secret - I had a friggin' blast on all of them!

Turns out that the "style" or "ethics" of a repeat ascent are waaaaay overemphasised - I'd much rather go and have a fun day out, which translates into almost any "style" of climbing depending on a whole plethora of factors (how I'm feeling, who I'm with, how much goon I had to drink the night before, how the weather is looking, what colour underpants I'm wearing, if any, etc. etc. etc.).

[edit] Hypocritically, I basically agree with your black and white view that for repeat ascents there are "onsights" and then "everything else" (which I shall henceforth be referring to as a "wankpoint"). I might split hairs about top roping vs leading, but really it's just another form of wankpoint jiggery pokery. Doesn't change for one minute the fact that these styles are an artificial contrivance.