Being a climber means not being an adult?

Dirt Bag
I guess I could have read all the posts but I skimmed.
I know a lot of climbers who are now Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Teachers, Pilots and Contractors who lived in vans, cars, tent or what ever.
They were just climbers getting by and making a life.
Never thought of them as dirt bags never will.
In public you would think they were normal what ever that is.

There are those who want to climb five days, work two, and then there are those who are just as happy doing the steady 40 and climbing two days.
I did both there was a time for each.
Then there are ones who have an excuse why they can’t, couldn’t didn’t.
I know lots of climbers who did the hardest climbing after they had wives and children. They also balanced it so they were climbing less and spending quality time not sitting at home being lap dogs watching TV.
Being an adult?
Guess that could be different to different folks.
I was once asked when I was going to grow up. I was climbing, snowboarding and white water kayaking with my daughters every weekend if not at a school event.

I guess all the wining comes down to penis envy it usually does.

Maybe its a mentality of the current generations (70s 80s 90s) that have a "I want it all and I want it now" mentality?
I know I have a hard time looking at my vacation time and my calander to try and squeeze in both my motorcycle racing and climbing trips..
Wish the closest crag wasnt 7-8 hours away but thats the way it is.

CurtisF4i wrote:Maybe its a mentality of the current generations (70s 80s 90s) that have a "I want it all and I want it now" mentality? I know I have a hard time looking at my vacation time and my calander to try and squeeze in both my motorcycle racing and climbing trips.. Wish the closest crag wasnt 7-8 hours away but thats the way it is.

Not our fault you drank the "CoolAid"!!

Cant really blame you for not figure out that that life is nothing more than a big sham presented to us by the masses from the time we take our first shit.

Sure that life is for some but for just as many it is not at all. Look at the state of the world these days and imagine it 4o more years from now. This is what you get when you force square pegs into round holes.

Hope you enjoy your vacation though ;)

I am just joshing you for the sake of the thread and hold nothing personally against you. This is however exactly the way i feel. Your comment just happens to have set a perfect stage for my thoughts!!

Your right Nick, I put words in your mouth. I guess it was just your general attitude that dirt bagging was a choice and was not a problem that got me started. BTW I'm just a self-employed carpenter (and democrat last I voted ) who gets a bit bent about freeloading.

I love how some of you espouse Socialized medicine, yet wonder how you would feel about the other side of the equation such as 50+%taxation rates? Wonder how much dirt bagging you could do then?

What the fuck is a "dirtbag"?

Kevin, one time acute care costs way less than a lifetime of chronic care. I used to work in a place that cared about where all the healthcare dollars went. Statistics are something like that 90% of the healthcare dollars are spent in the last 10 years of people's lives. It's the twice a week dialysis' and $100k/per month cancer drugs that extend lives only for a couple of months are the root of the problems, not your average dirtbag. You can't argue those expenditures once they become the standard of care. Your health insurance premiums are likely driven up by your co-workers who play sports on weekends- littlest pain and their doc orders an MRI. Dirtbags will try to stay healthy and will deal with their little injury/malaise on their own...

So it is a "person". Classifications are for high schoolers with self esteem issues. Even needing to call oneself a climber is childish.

Ironic that a business owner is hating on the homeless/unemployed. I assume the OP is a business owner, otherwise why refer to a fellow employee as yours.
Sounds like class warfare and everyone knows a trad/d-bag has way more crag-class than your typical plastic pulling gymtard.
Did some homeless crusher send your latest proj?
Is the chalk dust drying out the synapses?
I just love the unity within the climbing community.
j/joking, but seriously WTF? People climb hard because they do (either by training or talent or a combo of both) not because they are homeless or because they have structure in their life.
From my experience (i've played for years on both sides of the fence, the m-f,9-5'er as well as the 5 months off 7 months on seasonal), permanent fixtures at climbing areas typically are good things. From what I've seen they tend to act as (or turn into) land stewards.
One that instantly comes to mind is Ron Kauk.
IMO, it's the weekend warriors that are ruining the wilderness.
They love it to death.
With only two days to cram in a lifetime of expectations, they tend to "go all out"' Incorporating a selfish "I only have two days" attitude, they seem to place their agenda's above all else.
They don't have time to: pick that up, run to the outhouse, or at least dig a hole, tie up the dog, buy firewood from town, wait in line for a route, stake down their tent (look mommy theres a north face up in the sky...), find a legitimate camp site, turn down their music, clean up their ashes from their bonfires, remember that the campfire is not a garbage incinerator...

Where as someone who has taken the time and planning to afford themselves the time to not be hurried, to stay long enough to develop a more meaningful connection with an area and live a more simpler existence (even if only for a few months) has the time and eventually the motivation to see these areas preserved/protected and not marketed to the mass public as the next cool thing (thanks parrallelajams).

Just my two cents.
thanks, if you actually read my coffee rant.

Wise words as usual from you Holmes (a man who has definitely lived on both sides of the fence as he puts it).

Kevin Stricker wrote:Your right Nick, I put words in your mouth. I guess it was just your general attitude that dirt bagging was a choice and was not a problem that got me started.

Well thanks for admitting that Kevin. But again, I never said it wasn't a problem. My only role in this thread has been pointing out the holes in arguments made by Brian, you, and others. Your ideas are full of stereotypes, generalizations, and a bunch of glass-house hypocrisy. The health care argument is particularly weak.
I don't know why, but more and more I'm seeing that sort of attack going on on this site, which is a marked departure from the way I remember it. Often no one jumps in to defend, so I was just trying to do my part (also as someone who has lived on "both sides of the fence"). I don't want anyone to think I have no respect for the 9-5er getting it done. Or that I think dirtbags are the only "real" climbers.

josh holmes wrote: j/joking, but seriously WTF? People climb hard because they do (either by training or talent or a combo of both) not because they are homeless or because they have structure in their life.

Sorry holmes, your logic is nonsense, we need to keep the fear alive! Hate the dirtbags, for they are left wing communist pinkos and sucks of life. Hate the worker bees, for they are mindless drones who only feed the capitalist machine.

Envy. Jealousy. Fear. Hate. YESSSSSS..... The Dark side. It will serve you well. . . . .Now use that anger . . . and send.

David Sahalie wrote: guess what mr. tea party, all the rest of civilized world considers all their citizens health care a basic human right, only in america do we profit off of the sick. it is truly sick and pathetic 'system'

One of the most ignorant statements I've seen.

Ellenor Stone wrote:Yep being a dirtbag does not mean being a climber....and visa versa

Interestingly enough, posting on this site with a picture of you in a climbing helmet doesn't make you a climber either. Which is obvious when you espouse drivel like this:

Ellenor Stone wrote: Yeah I'm not taking whippers...but I never do being a static climber and a predictable leader. !

Huh? Now be honest, you don't really climb do you?