What's the deal with the chair in RC?

Ryan Nevius wrote: And free soloing isn't accessible to anyone? Great logic above, from many respondents.

Ryan, I'm not going to die on this hill, so whatever. Let me restate why I think you are wrong though.

Rock climbing is hard, takes specialized skills, and seems pretty mysterious to many. Displays of it isn't likely to cause people to free solo. If anything, it'll contribute to roped crowds at the gym and sport cliffs.

Rope jumping isn't climbing. Anyone can go to home depot OR REI and attach the rope to those bolt things and jump. Absolutely insane but it takes no skill put yourself in that situation.

The arch has basically turned into an attractive nuisance now. I bet more people will die too. The last thing going through some poor guy's head will be Austin's stupid video.

Josh Allred wrote:Rock Canyon has some striking climbing features minutes from town. It is a very small area, hence a very limited resource. We should tread these resources lightly. As climbers we must be leaders in environmental responsibility preserving for future climbers and outdoor enthusiast to enjoy. Found this posted on FB. IMO I'm not sure this is something we want in RC.

That's one striking feature I wouldn't mind climbing

Woodchuck ATC wrote:I love the chair and have it as my desktop for the last few weeks....brings up some nice discussion.

Chairs belong behind desks, not on top of them (or on top of climbing walls).

You deserve all the harsh rhetoric you get.

There is a difference between making climbing and skiing movies with big name athletes that start out with disclaimers that you can die doing this, and a youtube video designed to appeal bro brahs that has no warnings, no disclaimers, and makes the jump look like an fun easy no consequence YOLO good time.

Untrained people don't go try to solo half dome after watching a Honnold video. Untrained people don't ski base jump off the Eiger after watching a TGR film. It just doesn't happen despite those types of things being filmed for many years.

Untrained people who watch what looks like an easy party trick that'll get you laid do go try to do those things. People predicted someone was going to die, and die soon, after you posted that video. And someone did.

I remember arguing about someone's safety concern with the Slips tyrolean on mountainproject some years back. I was totally wrong, and he was prescient - a kid needlessly died in exactly the way he predicted shortly after that argument. I still feel horrible that I didn't take that seriously and do anything about it, and that was not something I was responsible for in way aside from dismissing a very real scenario in an internet conversation.

I have no idea how you guys live with yourselves after that death. But I am totally unsurprised that when another stupid publicity stunt in Utah pops up, the same crew is responsible.

Andrew Gram wrote: But I am totally unsurprised that when another stupid publicity stunt in Utah pops up, the same crew is responsible.

Agree with Andrew.

To be honest no one would ever even consider bolting a chair to the side of a cliff or mountain in the mountain communities I have lived in or near, where the wilderness and views are kind of the idea to begin with. I suppose this area is a bit of shit show anyway?

" I suppose this area is a bit of shit show anyway? "

^^^probably because of the main trail that goes up the gut of the canyon which sees a lot of traffic from multiple user groups.

Don't be surprised if you hear/see some imbecile teenagers trundling boulders over a climbing area. Lots of clueless people wondering their way up the canyon.

There's a few solid climbers lurking and some good climbing to be had there. Just have to sift through some of the BS.

That Corona Arch video is grossly pretentious. (and all their videos for that matter)

Andrew Gram wrote: I am totally unsurprised that when another stupid publicity stunt in Utah pops up, the same crew is responsible.

+1

I have seen a lot of stupid shit on the internet so wasn't surprised to see this ridiculous chair. The arrogance and ignorance that keeps coming from these folks is very disturbing. Land managers don't like to see this kind of crap. Maybe you don't know it, but there are a lot of folks (volunteers) working under the radar with land managers for no compensation to preserve climbing access. Most of it goes completely unnoticed by the majority of people out there climbing. Stunts like these mentioned in the previous posts do nothing but threaten our access to keep climbing in these areas.
Also boys, I wouldn't be judging your awesomeness by how many people "like" it on Facebook. I just went to Donald Trumps facebook page and he has almost 780,000 likes. Lots of stupid people out there, that "like" a lot of stupid shit.

Self Aggrandizement.

The Chair stunt - This could create an access issue. Every time someone does a stunt that could affect access, it is a problem for the community using that resource. 1.7M internet users do not represent the community that uses that resource. Graffiti artists don't own the canvas they are painting on and rarely ask permission.

The rope stunt - Access issue and promoting a dangerous stunt while failing to detail the technical difficulties. This too could affect access, so we can all be concerned with it for that reason. Driving page views through discussing how dangerous it is, doesn't contribute to the problem. The posters had the opportunity to pull it down after having these issues pointed out. The posters failed to contemplate the outcomes of their self-publicity. Austin/Dallen et al can rationalize not taking responsibility for the outcomes, but many won't take the obvious connection between their video and a death so lightly.

You have too much time on your hands boys.

PT

http://www.insideedition.com/videos/1904-rock-climber-builds-his-own-mountain-recliner

I don't feel like they are in any way responsible for someones death. That guy made a bad choice in trying to replicate something he saw in a video. They don't owe it to the world to provide safety instructions and warning for their videos.

I do feel like they need to take a look at their true motivations for doing this stuff. This has been thought of long ago and probably already done. The difference is in their pathetic attempt at hyping themselves up. In the mainstream this is just another specticle not representitive of climbing.

From their comments they are obviously clueless. So why do they feel a strong need for recognition from people who don't understand the context? Is it not enough to just do something like this because they wanted to without turning to the world for acceptance? Dallin?

Kenny Clark wrote: insideedition.com/videos/19…

Pretty cool story. I feel that the whole "lugging up the chair" part made it more interesting.

Just what we need, notoriety of the stupid. I'll have friends and extended family asking where I placed my special chair.

D.Buffum wrote: Other headlines from Inside Edition on the same day: Greg Lott says he was Farrah Fawcett's Secret Love Real Life Hobbit Living in Oregon Woods

I always go to Inside Edition, Extra and ET when I need reputable climbing and access information in life. Hell, where would we be today in society without the Kardashian sisters helping us in our social life too?

--Sigh-- This garbage makes me miss DanO....

I gotta ask Austin Barid, Dallin Smith you guys wouldnt happen to be mormon boy scouts in the past by any chance?? Just wondering

So that was one of their former troop mates at Goblin Valley a few weeks ago. Quite the legacy.

rging wrote:So that was one of their former troop mates at Goblin Valley a few weeks ago. Quite the legacy.

+1

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.
Whenever I hear of some lame douchebaggery it usually originates in utah county.

"they've done an' gone full utard, never go full utard"
-deadword abbey

I don't see the big deal about the chair, in fact, it seems like a pretty neat idea to me. Climbing is such a ridiculous thing to begin with, there is a long standing tradition of climbers hanging stuff off cliff sides in a nod to absurdist effort with no payout other than a unique vista for a sunset, or sharing something unique with an insider group of close friends.

The problem with these cats is they are whoring the sport to self-promote. You used to have to be on the inside to be in the know about these things, and for the guys that did them the secret was 3/5ths the fun. You had to in some way deserve or have earned access to the info, which made it all the cooler.

The "hey, look at how cool I am" angle to this thing tarnishes all the novelty and uniqueness of this otherwise kinda inspired stunt. The more people that know, by definition the more mainstream it becomes, until all the shine of participating in, and even adding your own individual style to, a fringe sport is lost, and we're hipsters with ropes.

Clifton Santiago wrote:I don't see the big deal about the chair, in fact, it seems like a pretty neat idea to me. Climbing is such a ridiculous thing to begin with, there is a long standing tradition of climbers hanging stuff off cliff sides in a nod to absurdist effort with no payout other than a unique vista for a sunset, or sharing something unique with an insider group of close friends. The problem with these cats is they are whoring the sport to self-promote. You used to have to be on the inside to be in the know about these things, and for the guys that did them the secret was 3/5ths the fun. You had to in some way deserve or have earned access to the info, which made it all the cooler. The "hey, look at how cool I am" angle to this thing tarnishes all the novelty and uniqueness of this otherwise kinda inspired stunt. The more people that know, by definition the more mainstream it becomes, until all the shine of participating in, and even adding your own individual style to, a fringe sport is lost, and we're hipsters with ropes.

Agree with some of your points Clifton...but...the big issue I would have if I was local where these kids are playing at is access being threatened for everyone. I know the stupid rope swing got parks thinking. If these idiots did something like this around most of the places I climb, Zion or Banff for example....it would just be another excuse to limit climbers access to establishing routes on local cliffs, etc. I could see your point to a degree if any of their stunts involved talent, climbing at a certain grade, etc. But really just dumb tricks anyone could pull off with the addition of someone dumb enough to embark on a media campaign to promote same. Most of the mainstream media think Everest is some sort of technical climb boys, so don't let it go to your head that they might think a rope swing or bolted chair is a significant stunt.