What do you hate most about rock gyms?

Ben Woods wrote:I hate not having anough time to get to one from the random spot in Iowa I have ended up. Hence what started as the kids' playstructure will be my 14' boulder by the end of this summer. (little varmints can learn to climb instead of reading comic books and telling dirty jokes with their pals, says I)

Bigger. Waaay bigger. You got the room, go for it. (see 'home woody' postings) You can never have enough lumber.

What I hate about gyms:

Its the smell,
if there is such a thing.
I feel saturated by it.
I can taste the stink.
And every time I do I fear I've somehow been infected by it, its repulsive......isn't it?
I must get out of here....

It's raining - think I'll go to the gym tomorrow and get my bum kicked by a bunch of kids pulling fancy moves and not even facing the wall but kinda sideways or just campusing hand-over-hand...and they're all beautiful young people with beautiful partners, and I'm old sloppy and grey. Hey that's what I really hate; old Father Time tapping me on the shoulder with a smirk on his face.

Woodchuck ATC wrote: Isn't that a staph infection?,, being out on the skin would make it one I believe. I thought Streptococcus tends to be inside where it's moist.

It was definitely streptococcus. I thought the same thing, and was corrected. And the infection was internal, contracted through a crack-induced gobie.

I once got a minor infection from the same cracks (easily treated with Neosporin), and another friend also caught a minor infection. I'm sure others have also.

I don't hate rock gyms, but there are a few things that bother me.

Like many others, the inconsistent grading.

The kids. If I'm lead climbing a 5.11, a parent shouldn't have their kids top roping a 5.8 right next to me. If I fall, that little bastard is getting knocked out.

The people who come into the gym wearing all prana, or klime clothing, with five out of nine fingers taped up with the inability to send a rec bouldering route. Seriously, you aren't up to the level wear you even need to consider tape.

Chris Owen wrote:...and they're all beautiful young people with beautiful partners, and I'm old sloppy and grey. Hey that's what I really hate; old Father Time tapping me on the shoulder with a smirk on his face.

I resemble that remark...

+10

Mattq331 wrote:Hey Hank... stop hating, and learn to love. K?

Allright allright, I love now. After the Superbowl, I'm going to the gym. I have to send my nemesis dark green tape before they take it down.

Hate is a strong word for the gym. I really can't get up the energy to hate anything there anymore. I dig the gym at night and on weekdays! And like Andrew said, it's great for running into friends you wouldn't otherwise see often.

As for the tape colors, one night at the new gym I got confused and just decided to grab whatever holds I wanted to on an overhang. OMFG! It was like climbing outside. Magically, the tape colors blended into the "rock" surface and it became fun again.

Hank Caylor wrote: Allright allright, I love now. After the Superbowl, I'm going to the gym. I have to send my nemesis dark green tape before they take it down.

At least your climb has a manly hue. I always wind up bouted by the pink tape routes.

Brian Janezic wrote:sums it up:

+1 Rafe...but it's not worth it!! The good outweighs the bad, trust me.

I hate the fat chick at my gym that walks around with a laser pointer spraying beta!

Children: being allowed to run underneath 200 lb. people bouldering (staff fails to do their job at control and safety)
Side Note: the spot has a whole vert wall perfect for young beginners, but they prefer to clog up the steeper boulders. The BRC has a whole upstairs area just for children, but their staff prefers to let them run underneath climbers in the lower area.

Attitude: I may suck at climbing, but I have been climbing since many of today's up and comers were still pissing their beds at night. Ditch the ego and "too cool" attitude... climbing is fun, not a competition.
Also, old guys cutting in line on routes "well are you tied in?" "No, but the guy I just lowered still is" get some patience and wait your turn. The older guys doing this are worse than the children (grow up man child!).

Famous/expert climbers: Sorry, but (most of)you are all a bunch of self absorbed dicks. Anyone can have fun climbing, even on 5.5. (re: tape comment above(koreo), I may suck at climbing, but arthritic joints suck too, and unfortunately I tape up many joints just to avoid injury on 5.10s. Why do you care how much someone tapes up? does it affect you? although I tend to agree with the comment about Prana gear.) Call it "classism for climbers", call it what you will, but it is basically high school bull shit for adults.

Anyone too cool to acknowledge when they have been addressed: If you really are world class, and some gumby(I.e. me) says "holy shit that was sweet" regarding the 1 finger campus deadpoint to a sloper move you just did, just say "thanks". Ignoring a compliment just makes you look like a dick. Said gumby already understands that he belongs to a different realm, just be glad that you are in a way "a hero" of the sport. Be a steward of the sport, be welcoming to people who aren't as good as you.

On a good note, climbing in the gym when it is empty on a rainy or snowy day is great.

Enough venting, the worst thing is that after 17 years of climbing... still haven't ticked 5.12 even on plastic :( boo hoo

1)the lack of consistentcy in route setting.
2)the fact that most route setters, and gym employees, have never climbed outside
3)the fact, that as a trad climber, gym climbing in no way, shape, or form resembles climbing in the Valley, Jtree, or Indian Creek.

Where do I even begin???

-I hate the smell

-I hate the kids and students that clog the gym forcing all the legit climbers to congregate under the lead wall or in a small corner of the boulder area.

-I hate that only one of the staff actually climbs but that he's a total gym rat.

-I hate it when the entire lead wall is cramped with climbers but nobody's climbing a 5.12

-I hate it when I get harassed by staff when I almost hit the ground while botching a clip and fall 15 feet. "OMG that was absolutely reckless, no one should fall 15ft" Are you f@%*ing kidding me!!!

-I hate it when people spray beta about a climb they worked for 3 months to send. I don't work routes in the gym! I go to get my ass kicked hard.

-I hate trying to climb while Elton John is blaring over the speakers

-I hate it when I'm trying to make a clip in the middle of a crux sequence even though you just made a clip 2 feet before that and 2 feet before that and so on cause the rules say clip every draw!

-And I especially hate the fact that I need the gym for 4 months out of the year.

-I like the gym cause I can get on routes as hard as I want and bail at any minute. And I like that when it's dark after work I can still climb that day.

Rock gyms are just a necessary evil!

I hate that the closest one is a mini-gym in the back of an outdoors store an hour away and that the next closest one is 4 hrs away... I'll take routes that are never changed, slick holds, unsupervised kids, staff who can't climb, and climbers who spew beta while climbing poorly with their shirts & shoes off and all their appendages taped if y'all will just open a big climbing gym on the coast in Alabama :) But that said, I'm thankful for our little indoor climbing wall an hour away and airplanes to take me to real rocks all around the country!

I personally like the gym. What I have a problem with are folks who think that most gym climbers never climb outside. Or maybe they only clip bolts. OMG! It make one wonder who the real "plastic people are". If you grew up climbing before gyms, maybe they are appreciated more! :)

As the non climbing belay slave and taxi for my climber kids I have to say that as in the world at large it is up to the parent to teach the rug rats some manners. My kids had to do push ups and other PT for every infraction at our rec center gym. Also those guys got my kids started on outside climbing (made me quit smoking because of the approaches) which I enjoy as much as them. Climbing inside is fun as long as it is not the only thing you do. (depends on geographic location) I do hate obnoxious college students trying to impress some chicks by climbing a 5.7 on lead and taking whippers. And people hating on my kids without seeing them climb or anything( my daughter climbs 10's outside and my son climbs 12's outside if that makes any difference)

currently the thing i hate most besides bad music is the contrived boulder problem rating method......instead of the tried and true v-rating v-0,v-1,v-2,v-3, etc...they use recreational,intermediate, advanced, and open...too much range and just plain lazy....go ahead show up at the gunks and use that scale and people will look at you the way i look at the gym rats....oh and did i mention its a tad on the spendy side....not all climbers make physicians wages, some of us just scrape by.i do like looking through all the old climbing magazines while making a futile effort at resting. going to the gym can make you stronger physically and a little technically savvy, but as far as mentally stronger on real climbs i think gyms totally miss the mark. when i go outside to climb clip ups and witness some ripped sport climber campus through 13c/d moves like its 5.2, i'm not really impressed .the climbing may be hard but leaves little mental challenge so far as risk and adventure. i pay out much more respect to the climber who steps out into the unknown, micro cam or stopper protected 5.10 runout.....that is real adventure, real risk. real climbing isn't bolt protection every 3.3 feet, rap bolted, minimum risk, complacent, and easy. its shaky ,scary , but- puckering, scant of decent pro, cold, sometimes remote, and committing, etc. i guess we all have to start somewhere.

The bad:
1) People thinking that their gym is the best. Your gym sucks just as much as mine does...
2) Shitty soft rock radio stations.
3) Not being able to take my shirt off in the summer (it's Phoenix and there is no a/c).
4) People that get their ego stroked off of over inflated ratings.
5) The cloud of chalk dust that rivals LA's haze.
6) Clipping bolts every move on lead.

The good:
1) The constant stream of cute girls from the local college campus.
2) Not having to find the down climb with a head lamp when it's dark outside.
3) There no rangers that hate climbers.