Ask Tommy Caldwell // Win a FREE Edelrid Boa Eco 9.8

climbing friend caldwell,

You do not answer my question, and we do not have fun time happy euro dance party. I so sad...

Tommy,
I am a fairly new climber who started off late in life (40 years old) with great aspirations to excel within the sport. The personal satisfaction and "Quan" I receive when climbing has become an addiction; yet simple climbs fail to give me that "Quan" I so desire, almost like a drug. The better I get, the further I want to excel! Only problem is I have quickly hit a glass ceiling; that ceiling being juggling a full time demanding job, devoted husband, and father of three (a 20 year old college student and money sponge, 15 year old high school drama queen, and 4 year old dare devil). With "real life" always interfering and demanding so much of me, combined with the fact there are no crags, boulders, or climbing gyms within 45 minutes from where I reside, it is hard to train to become the climber I aspire to be. I am seeking advice from you as I feel commonalities with you (husband, father, climber) in the hopes you can help me understand how to combine training within my demanding and devoted to family lifestyle.

All,

Thanks!

To you guys for asking some really interesting questions. To Tommy for making the time to hang out with us and for delivering some pretty inspiring and thoughtful replies. And to Edelrid for providing the ropes.

Congrats to DesertRat and Matt Lisenby for winning those Boa ECO 9.8's!

This was fun and cool, and we hope to do it again with various other climbing personalities.

Shannon

Dear Tommy,
I wrote you but you still ain't calling
I left my cell, my pager, and my home phone at the bottom
I sent two letters back in autumn, you must not-a got 'em
There probably was a problem at the post office or something
Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot 'em
but anyways; fuck it, what's been up? Man how's your daughter?
My girlfriend's pregnant, too, I'm bout to be a father
If I have a daughter, guess what I'ma call her?
I'ma name her Bonnie
I read about your Uncle Ronnie, too, I'm sorry
I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn't want him
I know you probably hear this everyday, but I'm your biggest fan
I even got the underground shit that you did with Skam
I got a room full of your posters and your pictures man
I like the shit you did with Rawkus, too, that shit was phat
Anyways, I hope you get this man, hit me back,
just to chat, truly yours, your biggest fan
This is Alex H, i mean Stan.

Most of the questions and particular the response from Tommy Caldwell were great to read. Not a one of those posts however holds a candle to the one immediately above. Pure gold.

matt snyder wrote:Dear Tommy, I wrote you but you still ain't calling I left my cell, my pager, and my home phone at the bottom I sent two letters back in autumn, you must not-a got 'em There probably was a problem at the post office or something Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot 'em but anyways; fuck it, what's been up? Man how's your daughter? My girlfriend's pregnant, too, I'm bout to be a father If I have a daughter, guess what I'ma call her? I'ma name her Bonnie I read about your Uncle Ronnie, too, I'm sorry I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn't want him I know you probably hear this everyday, but I'm your biggest fan I even got the underground shit that you did with Skam I got a room full of your posters and your pictures man I like the shit you did with Rawkus, too, that shit was phat Anyways, I hope you get this man, hit me back, just to chat, truly yours, your biggest fan This is Alex H, i mean Stan.

If this were a song, I'd listen to it!

This was a great read! Thank you to the forum leaders for organizing this event and having these replies there for us. I hope you're able to organize this with more climbers soon

climbing friend von boner-hausen,

What do you smoke, the crack rocks? REI would not approve.

Stop immediately the utilization of this forum to gain hits to blog about letters to the editor and local politics and ballot measure of custer county.

Alex Honnold kinda sounds like Eminem. I got back up vocals and guitar for that one. Hit me up man! But Eminem's gonna sue us

Tommy,
I just finished reading Steve Roper's book Camp 4. In his book he describes Warren Harding's ascent of the dawn wall and the media frenzy around it. Here we are over 40 years later on the same wall with an even grander media frenzy. What parallels and differences do you see between these two ascents of the same wall in different climbing eras?

Part of a question and TC's response...

This is not to belittle you or your achievements, but do you ever consider changing to a career that adds societal value?

TC: For better or worse climbing is what I know and what I love. I don’t consider changing careers because I feel incredibly lucky to have the career that I have. With climbing get to be a explorer of sorts. I think anyone that has this opportunity in life should seize it.

What does it look like to you to have a meaningful impact as a climber?

TC: What is meaningful impact anyway? I mean, Climbers aren’t saving the world. We are just doing the best we can with what we know. And it makes for a pretty great life.

Is it just me, or did anyone else happen to notice that any / every one of Tommy's (and friend's) incredible accomplishments has "added societal value"? I get the writer's perspective, that "climbing a wall" is just climbing a wall. But it is how that act is perceived that determines it's value. How many Grandmas learned something new about the human spirit? How many 8 year olds changed their futures because of the El Cap exposure? How many businesses will rethink their processes to be more responsible to future generations? What whiskey company will be the first to offend us by proselytizing "Dawn Wall Bourbon" into corporate profits? (Unless TC and KJ brew it, of course.)
The fact is the outgoing ripples of the energy of Kevin and Tommy's Dawn Wall adventure will, in more ways than can be defined, be a dawning of sorts for all people and animals for many gnerations to come. (Hopefully moreso for the animals, they who have no voice in din of "progress".) To deny the inherent value of this energy is missing the point. Did they "just climb Dawn Wall", or did they, given enough time, noticeably improve the world? I suspect TC was -intentionally- understating his perspective of the "meaningful impact / societal value" of his endeavors, for in fact, how could one possibly overstate the effects?
One single act can be quantifiably felt for hundreds of years. The story goes, a sniper of the Revolutionary War had his target in his sights, but was ethically driven to not shoot the man because his back was turned. As a result, that one man lived, and living changed all our lives immeasurably. As fate had it, George Washington walked away that day and breathed his energy into the future we all know as The United States of America.
I am not saying TC is GW, and the Dawn Wall is as important as the Revolutinary War. (Warning: Run-on sentence ahead.) But as an example of positive societal impact, I challenge anyone on the MP website to define the present presidential circus (hundreds of millions of $$ spent, hundreds of years of energy "invested", all for a futile sideshow) in a way that offers more societal value to the country than the positive publicity Kevin and Tommy managed from the DW. (And many of us thank you both for your stewardship of responsible and effective PR in the aftermath.)
Of course such a comparison is just to BS over a beer. THAT would amount to "little to no societal value." But to say something as world-wide as the DW, and hundreds, possibly thousands of other climbing endeavors is "just climbing", while zen-like and philosophically accurate description of the physical act, does not include the broad tangible effects of the event on the world as found thru space and time.

Talk amongst yourselves...

Hey Tommy,

I too am a 2nd generation climber as you are. My father learned to climb in Yosemite in the 80's and recalls possibly buying gear from your dad's shop in the valley. I just started climbing 4 years ago and have been hooked. My dad's stories of adventure in Yosemite and Smith Rocks always inspired me. Once I was out of high school and into college, I found my passion for rock climbing.

As well as my dad, I have been developing new routes as much as possible. I get some negative feedback for putting up lines that have spaced protection and are considered scary. I see other lines that are popular at Smith Rock due to the closely place protection every 5-6 feet. These overly protected lines do not provoke the same level of experience that the scary climbs do. I was once told that it is not the overly safe route that you remember for decades, it is the scary ones. I agree with this. I know that new routes are usually getting put up in a fashion with more bolts than in the past years, and it is a popular trend. I am concerned about newly developed rock climbing losing its adventurous nature due to the general population wanting things to be safer. While I agree that routes should be put up in a fashion that doesn't hurt the majority of climbers who attempt routes, it is important to keep the adventure!

I see routes you put up and they are usually quite scary but also very popular. Do you think this is due to the difficulty of the routes you put up, your popularity in the climbing world, or the location (usually big walls)? How do you think it is best to encourage people to keep the adventures nature in this fast growing sport?

Tim Lutz wrote:TC left the building, but please, keep up the stories to impress him. Hero worship is very entertaining

I'm still sticking around to learn how to levitate.

Dear Tommy,
You still ain't called or wrote, I hope you have a chance
I ain't mad - I just think it's F*CKED UP you don't answer fans
If you didn't wanna talk to me outside your concert
you didn't have to, but you coulda signed an autograph for Matthew
That's my little brother man, he's only six years old
We waited in the blistering cold for you,
four hours and you just said, "No."
That's pretty shitty man - you're like his f*vcking idol
He wants to be just like you man, he likes you more than I do
I ain't that mad though, I just don't like being lied to
Remember when we met in Denver - you said if I'd write you
you would write back - see I'm just like you in a way
I never knew my father neither;
he used to always cheat on my mom and beat her
I can relate to what you're saying in your songs
so when I have a shitty day, I drift away and put 'em on
'Cause I don't really got shit else so that shit helps when I'm depressed
I even got a tattoo with your name across the chest
Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds
It's like adrenaline, the pain is such a sudden rush for me
See everything you say is real, and I respect you 'cause you tell it
My girlfriend's jealous 'cause I talk about you 24/7
But she don't know you like I know you Tommy, no one does
She don't know what it was like for people like us growing up
You gotta call me man, I'll be the biggest fan you'll ever lose
Sincerely yours, Alex
-- P.S.
We should be together, too

Tim Lutz wrote:TC left the building, but please, keep up the stories to impress him. Hero worship is very entertaining

I'm betting folks will be posting in this one for a while to come not knowing their time had past...

Morgan Patterson wrote: I'm betting folks will be posting in this one for a while to come not knowing their time had past...

corporate climbing friend,

can you not lock it the thread with final postings that is over the contest?

Aleks Zebastian wrote: corporate climbing friend, can you not lock it the thread with final postings that is over the contest?

yo soy fiesta

dylan grabowski wrote: I'm still sticking around to learn how to levitate.

Just quote him, I did and now he won't stop sending me emails about how he is the Uber-Zen-Climbing-Monk who is buddies with guys who created the atomic bomb. Apparently these buddies plus the Dali Lama helped him learn to levitate, which he also taught to Reinhold Messner and Tommy Caldwell.

I wish I was joking.

New Question for Tommy...

Were you able to pickup any style tips from Jared Leto. No offense, and i totally get that the Patagonia uniform is free, BUT, it is getting old, especially when your boy rocks Dior, Gucci, and Alexander McQueen to make 7/11 runs.

Seriously though, did Jared rock the Gucci Chuck Taylor approach shoes?