An open letter to a certain rude aid climber ... (edited title)

I respect you and I respect your form of climbing,

however, if really feel the need to teach your protege how to clean your routes and jug lines, please do not choose perhaps the most classic FREE route in the entire area and occupy it for hours on the nicest day of the year so far.

No one likes you now. Hogging free routes to teach something you could do anywhere (like on an aid line) is lame.

Sincerely,

Price

Price,

You don't respect him at all. If he was first on the route then he can hang out there all he wants! It's that simple. First one there gets the route! There is only 1,000 other routes out there for you if you would just quit bitching about stuff, and get to the climb before others do. If anyone here is lame it is you.

I'm with Price...

+1 Price

I gotta go with Jim here...

Price has a valid point. Too bad his point is invalid. I've been passed by other parties. I've been allowed to pass other parties. I've climbed routes very slow. I've climbed routes very fast. One thing I know, when I'm climbing a route, it is mine and when someone else is climbing a route, it is theirs. Lame is leaving a toprope on a route while you climb something else. But, if you are on it, well, enjoy it in whatever time it requires.

Price, might have been a good day to climb something not so classic!

What route was it?

Well, he DID get there first. But if I were in that situation, I wouldn't want to inconvenience other climbers. I think it would just be common courtesy to teach my aid protege on a less popular route.

Yea go seek out one of those lost forgotten aid routes(that never got free'ed)! Good luck finding one amongst the thousands of free routes that were once aid lines...

Get off your high horse tough guy, who are you to complain about someone else getting on a nice line on a nice day? Maybe you should get up earlier instead of partying all night.

My vote is that early bird gets the worm.

You have not more right to it than they did. You never know what happened. Things happen to aid and free parties alike that end up bottle necking a route. It just happens.

If I'm climbing, I try to make efforts to let faster parties climb past, but, its my choice and not always possible.

Evan

Mexican Crack, LCC

Never was an aid line.

Spent over 2 hours with gear in the crack while teaching to jug lines out on the face. Was on the 1 pitch route for well over 4 hours.

Evan, you are an early bird.

I did climb something else, but had hoped that coming back 3 hours later some progress would have been made.

Aid guy was a dick about it.

Jim Gloeckler wrote:Price, You don't respect him at all. If he was first on the route then he can hang out there all he wants! It's that simple. First one there gets the route! There is only 1,000 other routes out there for you if you would just quit bitching about stuff, and get to the climb before others do. If anyone here is lame it is you.

I don't respect your grammar.

OK...sounds like the guy was probably a dick and rudely hogged the route. WTF does that have to do with aid climbers? I think the thread should be an open letter to rude people.

I think if you get there first you can do whatever you want, but if what you want to do is hog a classic like Mexican crack for 4 hours while you do anything, then you are a giant douchebag.

If he was being a dick, it's probably because he felt nervous and self-conscious because he knew he was being a douchebag. A person who is in the right has no reason to be a dick.

Paul Barnes wrote:Is this a question of one style trumps the other? Free over Aid?

Not as much a question of style of ascent, IMHO.

I kinda get the "early bird" arguement. I mean, if it was a free climber who was wantin' to get in 30 pitches on Mexican Crack to prepare for an upcoming long day, then, would that make hoggin' the route any better? Probably not, especially if they were a "dick" about it. But, if they got there first...

I wouldn't teach someone aid climbing on a very popular free climb, especially in the middle of the day when the season is gettin' ready to bust loose. Was a rope on Mexican Crack last night (and just about everything else in sight from the road, Bongeater, Coffin, etc). When did this happen?

Bad form.

Kinda like seeing Exum with ropes strung all over the front side of the Gate Buttress and a large class of folks on a nice Saturday in spring...

Crowds, crowded routes. Its a given until the season gets well under way (and other venues open up as the snow melts and the wetness dries up).

I think all this bickering comes down to the fact that we are a sick, unhealthy society, with too many things to be displeased and unhappy about ie. govt, economy, 1984, de-forestation, overpopulation, etc etc., causing us to argue about bullshit.

Yeah, sure he has the "right" to be there all he wants. But there is a difference between having the right and having some consideration for others. I don't think a popular line is a place to practice things. Sure you have the right, but it is rude. Go thru the queue at the grocery store when its busy and stop to read a magazine while the checker stands and waits for you and see how popular you are. You have the right to do that, but its still rude.

And no, this has nothing to do with which style trumps another. I don't climb classic routes on busy days because I know I'm slow and I don't want to be in the way. Doesn't matter my chosen style.

Greg D wrote:Price has a valid point. Too bad his point is invalid.

Really Greg? I'm surprised no one else jumped on this. Is this a staying neutral statement?

Just thought that was funny.

I with the "He has the right to chill on the climb but is still an inconsiderate jerk."
Just like the 'God hates Fags' people, sure they have the right to say that and protest all day on a popular street, but they are still inconsiderate jerks.

Greg D wrote:Price has a valid point. Too bad his point is invalid.

Sam Feuerborn wrote:Just thought that was funny.

+1

get up earlier. i hate whiners, you were in LCC, go have an adventure and make life awesome for the day. big surprise, a popular route has someone on it all day. Shouldnt matter if one party is on it all day or multiple parties use it all day, you miss your opening just the same.
Its easy to complain (on the inner-net)

Ben F wrote:I wonder if people's comments on this are similar to their attitudes while driving. That is, maybe we now know who sits their ass in the left lane on the highway and doesn't pass.

Hey well then Ben, they got on that highway and secured their ass solidly in that left lane first so they can drive there all they want and at any speed they want because they were there first. It's that simple. First one there gets the road! There is only 1,000 other roads out there for you if you would just quit bitching about stuff, and get on the road before others do. If anyone here is lame it is you.