Why we climb....?

Dunno. Been climbing since I was old enough to walk. Trees, buildings, fences, hills, anything. Why? Must give me some kind of satisfaction.

not too many girls in gunnison so it beats trying to have sex. and the protection is a litle less sketch with climbing.

I climb because I am the Walrus. KooKooKaChoo.

Mike,

Dammit Man, you have a way of getting to the root of IT, the core, the ESSENCE as it were....

Thanks man, you gave me a laugh when I really needed one.

DCCC is the new shizzit.

to climb is to see to see is to dream

That is a translation of the Italian company Kong's slogan. I don't speak Italian but I like it.

"You cannot stay on the mountain forever. You have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know."

~~This quote was 'quote o the day' on this site, don't remember who said it but it's fucking wonderful. Can we say fucking on this site?
On a Saturfuckinday night after the Rockies sweep the fuckin Phillies I think its fuckin appropriate.

I climb cause I do what I fuckin want. I get off on being fucking scared and the mental and physical challenges climbing presents gives me situations that would make [normal, regular, non-climbing] people shit their pants. Can we say shit on this fucking site?

One fucking thing I love about this climbing shit is the unparalleled trust you can build with partners. Put your life literally in someone else's hands and there is instant trust. Talk climbing with random strangers and it is an instant bond. Nothing builds confidence in a person's character like some air under your ass at a belay station. Can we say ass on this site? I fucking hope so or else this whole shitty ramble will be deleted.

Climbing is a sport where size doesn't matter. Rugby, football, wrestling are favorite sports besides climbing but I'm fucking tiny (5.8, 155lbs) and climbing is a sport where size doesn't matter. Size does not matter for climbing. Don't forget that, don't complain about it, don't ever use it as an excuse.

Denver beer night tonight?
Anybody still lookin at MP tonight? Most people on this site have early bed/posting times. There have to be other late night climbers surfin the web. Any climbing insomniacs? No?

Climber's are good shit. You're cool by me just for reading this. You're cool cause you like crack, because you enjoy bleeding, because the first thing you check out on strangers is the veins bulging out of their forearms, because you like getting high, because you go to the Spot to hit on girls, because Dan Hare is your hero, because you can find yourself in remote places, because its exciting to watch your golden arch tinkle hundreds of feet below, because timberline is where shit starts to get interesting, because lifting weights is a boring way to stay in shape, because you want to turn your pup into a crag dog, because everyone in Boulder does, because you check mp and rc.com before your email, and lastly, because growing up in the midwest was really fucking boring.

Girls like climbing. Guys like climbing girls. Climbing convos:
"You can't make a climbing chick, you have to steal someone else's."
"She's hot but there's no chance cause she climbs way harder than me."
"Girls don't understand emotionless sex."
"I'd let you belay me all night long."
"The lap dance is always better when the stripper is crying."

One last quote:
"I'm at the age where I realize
nothing.
Actually."

Greg wrote:I've lost control over my life. I'm obligated to social standards, friends and family, employers and employees. I'm not free. I'm perpetually in servitude to others. When I climb I can quiet the turmoil inside me and take back what's mine. I've found the little boy inside me, and introduced him to the man I have become. It's been an interesting conversation.

I really like that statement. Very elegant.

I used to say:
"If you are thinking about work, money, obligations, relationships- failed or present, etc... well, you are not putting enough space between your placements."

The Experience

Why do I climb? Because when it's good, it's better than sex.

For those "oh shit" moments

Sorry for the obscene ramblings late last night. I do appreciate that Tony posted later than me, at least one other climbing insomniac:)

Just a reminder for Page 2:

The beer & tequila tastes better

To Ryan. You have quoted Rene Daumal. "You cannot stay on the mountain forever......." Easily one of my favorite one paragraph statements trying to explain "Why we climb".

Two words man:
"Chicks & Big Money."

Oh wait that's three words.
So... Three words.
"Hot Chicks & Big Money" ---sh%t! That's 4 words.

---Whaddaya mean "This isn't the NASCAR forum?"...
"Climbing"...WTF?

There's no chicks or money in climbing.

This is a never ending question we as climbers have difficulty explaining to others and our answer is different from what we've explained before. We do several things in life for no reason at all... we do it because we must. We do it because it is where we get personal satisfaction and personal satisfaction balanced our lives.

From a practical perspective, climbing combines so much of what I am looking for: to be outdoors, to do something mentally challenging, to do something physically challenging, to be exposed to beauty, to be social, to travel, etc... I think this combination produces an experience for me that feels good and at times peaceful. Practical reasons got me climbing in the first place and good feelings have sustained me ever since.

I suck at ball sports. Can't catch or throw, but can claw my way up some rock - and get a great high from it.

I like the not-so-competitive nature of climbing. If a partner is stronger and more technically skilled, great - she/he is a rope gun and a tutor. If a partner needs a bit of improving - you want to help him/her, as it's in everyone's best interest and safety.

How many other sports require such trust in another person? Maybe that is related to the fact that some of my closest friends are my climbing partners. Though I've also climbed with new partners, and trusted them, as evidenced by taking lead falls while they belay. (I guess you just rely on your inner judgement choosing new partners.)

If someone asks you "Why do you climb..." while you're perched 15 feet above your last piece, with a sewing machine leg, sweaty hands, tired arms... the answer might be "because I'm a f<ck!ing idiot!" But after pulling the crux, and breathing that "Holy $hit that was hard let's do it again", well, there ya have it. Gotta love that high.

I was taught a very basic rapelling class in the 6th grade. A coupla years later my dad dropped an REI catalog in my lap(the catalog was a few sheets of paper back in the early 80's). I soon started stealing the bolts off my local crag due to stupidity and was busted by the local climbing school owner/guru in Austin. He talked my dad out of a check for a slew of climbing classes and it saved my soul. Climbing is the best!

. . . satori . . .

"Because it is there."
— George Mallory

Because it has fixed draws.