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Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

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definitions: 1-Nov-2005 At 3:58:49 PM Ronny

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Yeah kalreralt/Andy, I agree that it is arbitrary to say that one style is 'better' than another, but it is probably fair enough to recognise that generally some styles are 'harder' than others. eg its more dificult to onsight a route than red point. I think by recognising that this is not actually part of the definition of the words, but merely a consequence of the definition, then the issue you identify is resolved. There would therefore be no 'inherent value' in any of the words.

(I agree completely that it makes no real difference if you consider yourself to have been successful on a climb only if you've red pointed it, but not pink pointed - as long as you're happy with what you're doing its all ok)

I'm not so sure though that this merely comes down to a question of what any particular climber considers to be 'success' for them. That is because the word is used in a particular context that probably gives it more meaning than its standard dictionary definition. eg. if someone says 'i've ticked that climb off my list' then you can reasonably ask 'what does tick mean'. It might be that they had a list of climbs to photograph. But if someone says 'I've ticked that climb', they probably mean 'i've completed that climb to a generally accepted standard for success' as this is the general usage.
The question of what is the appropriate standard for 'success' then becomes a secondary issue, and should be addressed independently.
In the first useage, the definition of 'tick' is entirely subjective. But I don't think that it is when its used in normal climbing talk.
Of course, I think everyone's free to define their own standards for success (I certainly do), but if you define success in a significanly different way to the 'standard' definition, then when you tell your mate that you 'ticked' a climb, you will fail to communicate what you mean.

>Hey, does anyone want to sit three or four psyc exams in a couple of weeks?
Do you really trust any of us to take them for you?? I probably wouldn't. ;)

J