23-Oct-2014 2:19:24 PM
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Interesting rant.
I liked these bits...
>I made mistakes along the way; some were pointed out to me, but most weren’t. Mostly, I was self-taught. I was psyched on climbing and read everything I could about the sport, from all the how-to books, to all the great climbing articles and mountaineering tomes written over the last 100 years by the likes of Patey, Buhl, Messner, Sherman, Luebben, Long, Takeda, Samet, Jackson, Raleigh, et al. I was a big curious sponge and discovered climbing by absorbing all of it, thinking about it, asking questions, and trying to learn, often f---ing up along the way, too.
>This personality trait of seeking knowledge, asking questions and trying my best to learn was completely independent of the fact that, at one point in time, I was also the guy who showed up to the crags with that recognizable mix of 5.12-crimp strength and 5.8 footwork that you get after one year of climbing indoors.
>Regardless of my gym background, I never needed to be taught things like:
>Don’t leave a pile of shit on trails.
>Don’t scream at people who want to climb the same route as you.
>Don’t scream in general.
>Be friendly.
>Be humble.
>Be nice to other people.
>Be safe.
>Take the time to learn how to climb at an area.
>Sample the classics.
>Pay respects to the elders who did a lot more with a lot less.
>Don’t leave your gear strung up on routes that other polite people are waiting for.
>Most of all, no mentor ever needed to tell me not to boast or spray about myself. If you see a gym climber spraying about how easy 5.11 trad feels compared to the pink V11 he climbed at the Boulder Rock Club, it’s not because that guy is a “gym climber.” He’s just an asshole.
(snip)
>If you don’t want to wait in line, go somewhere else. Stop crying about the queue for the five-star area uber-classic, put on your “think-for-yourself” cap, and go hang your draws on the random climb next door because, even though it hasn’t been recorded on 8a.nu, I can almost guarantee you that it will be just as good, just as hard and just needs to be brushed.
(snip)
>Last weekend, I met a guy who climbs V11 in the gym, but he couldn’t get up a relatively straight-forward 5.11 warm-up at Rifle.
>“V11 and 5.11 are equally as hard,” he said, fully humbled after lowering down two bolts below the anchor. He was clearly strong but it only took one trip outdoors for him to realize that he doesn’t know jack shit about how to climb. Classic f---ing gym noob, right?
>But you know what? As long as he’s cool about it and willing to learn—in other words, as long as he’s not an asshole—he’s OK in my book.
Amen brother!
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