Climbing Gyms Arent the Problem Assholes Are
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You know that recurring internet rant about gym-trained climbers and how they are to blame for war, world hunger and poverty? |
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try this link: eveningsends.com/climbing/c… |
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like I tell the old crusties who hate everything new-> STFU, if you guys had kept quiet and spent more time on the rock than self promoting so everyone would think you are soooooo god damn extreme the sport would not have exploded like it did. deal with it or go play golf. |
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I pre-date climbing gyms by at least a decade and there were arseholes a-plenty in them thar early days... |
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"You see this misdirected blame everywhere in this sport." |
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I did not read the article but as someone who has been involved with access issues for a long time it was often observed by many that the early climbers came from an outdoor background thus had a pretty strong environmental ethic. That was true for the most part through the 80s. Since then climbing has become more main stream, that trend continues today with the gyms. Thus the issue as how to educate new users has been around well before the gym movement. The gyms may well be making it more prominent but not I not I would say it is the cause. (BITD the sport climbers got all the hate, now it is the gym climbers.) |
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Let's see, what's the phrase I am looking for? Oh ya, I love climbing but man do a fricking hate climbers. |
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I have climbed for 25 years now and I find the big problem is all the meetup groups not the gym climbers,who in there right mind brings groups with 25 to 100 people and top rope all the climbs that are five ten and under for the hole day, thank god I can climb upto 5.13 but some days I just want to have a fun day climbing easy stuff.but I do know the gym climbers are way into the hole meetup seen out in SoCal so If you are gym climber who is into meetup groups you are going to get all the good crags shut down by your impact, keep the group small like 3 to 5 people and your good if not you suck. |
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Allen Sanderson wrote:I did not read the article but as someone who has been involved with access issues for a long time it was often observed by many that the early climbers came from an outdoor background thus had a pretty strong environmental ethic. That was true for the most part through the 80s. Since then climbing has become more main stream, that trend continues today with the gyms. Thus the issue as how to educate new users has been around well before the gym movement. The gyms may well be making it more prominent but not I not I would say it is the cause. (BITD the sport climbers got all the hate, now it is the gym climbers.) With new users come climbers with and without the necessary outdoor ethics. Uncontrolled kids and dogs, loud music, smoking, garbage, yard sale gear, etc. have been an issue for years. No different than other new "urban" outdoor users.Well said! |
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I wonder how many people who hate gym climbers in the out doors go out of their way to introduce them to the outdoor version of the sport, it's ethics,and behaviors. |
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These are great articles. Thank you for sharing. |
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The folks that pioneered recreational climbing were following the pioneers of explorational climbing. Their early ethic and technique adapted the purely utilitarian techniques of the previous generation, but modified and limited these techniques to pursue the "sporting" aspect of climbing. The "sporting" aspect of climbing then self-limited itself to pure technique, which has logically boiled down a pure physicality almost devoid of the exploratory origins of the endeavor itself. The pure physicality of climbing is only a shadow of the spirit of climbing. There is a struggle for the soul of climbing, with the pure physical crowd gaining number grades and gymnastic prowess due to the advances in safety and media exposure. |
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... There is a struggle for the soul of climbing... |
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Clifton Santiago wrote:The folks that pioneered recreational climbing were following the pioneers of explorational climbing. Their early ethic and technique adapted the purely utilitarian techniques of the previous generation, but modified and limited these techniques to pursue the "sporting" aspect of climbing. The "sporting" aspect of climbing then self-limited itself to pure technique, which has logically boiled down a pure physicality almost devoid of the exploratory origins of the endeavor itself. The pure physicality of climbing is only a shadow of the spirit of climbing. There is a struggle for the soul of climbing, with the pure physical crowd gaining number grades and gymnastic prowess due to the advances in safety and media exposure. A gym is, by definition, a place of practice. It has devolved, or maybe evolved, into a place of achievement, with little to no real relevance to the spirit of explorational, or even recreational, climbing. There is an aching among those accomplished gymnastic, indoor oriented climbers, to translate their prowess to the "real rock". The purely functional and achievement oriented drive of their endeavor is challenged by the safety and partnership and, dare I say, adventure and mortal reality, of putting more on the line than their max VO2, or "pump factor". This challenges their mental faculties, their commitment to really putting it on the line, and has resulted in frustration at being technically proficient, but really lacking any intestinal fortitude to find the same accolades on the rock that they found in the gym. I was a whiz in biz school, too. It got way more uncomfortable when I invested my own funds.Very eloquent for a troll post I must say. *golf clap* |
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The only way I manage to convince myself that I am a worth while individual and climber is by convincing myself that everyone else is inferior because of their impure background. |
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the advent of the pulling on plastic to train for the rock was the 1st stab of the thousands that now so disfigure "climbing"as to make it unrecognizable to many of us who sought to get away from the banality of the normalcy shoot, the sucking sphincter that leaks stuff like the gym rats . |
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Did Michael just go all Compressor Route on us? |
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^^^i think so..... |
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There is a huge difference between a climber and someone who climbs |
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There is a huge difference between a climber and someone who climbs |