Red Bull Climbers Suck!

will ar wrote:Curious who was saying this. Both Honnald (i think the npr interview, or maybe it was the enormocast one) and Will Gadd on his blog have painted a very different picture of sponsorship. Basically they both said that other than media events (speaking, slideshows, etc) it was up to the athlete to come up with ideas for trips. Not saying athletes don't feel pressure to keep outperforming themselves and others or get more likes on social media, but I doubt that is being specifically directed by the sponsors.

When it comes to Red Bull once you become a Red Bull Athlete you are one for life. Red Bull does not stop supporting many of it athletes when they get old and stop performing at the highest levels. They just change what they do and Red Bull stays with them. Out of major sponsors Red Bull is actually one of the best ones when it comes to how they treat their athletes.

Avoiding drinking something made by an Austrian pharmaceutical company probably isn't the worst health choice.

JesseJames wrote:Some pro climbers are willing to do just about anything to fund their lifestyles; different dogs, same old bone. Rock climbers who accept sponsorships from disreputable companies like Red Bull embarass themselves and the sport they represent. Red Bull is one of the most notable sponsors of adventure sports and also the most abominable. Numerous studies have shown the harmful effects of Red Bull on the human body, yet pro climbers like Alex Megos, Will Gadd and David Lama continue to promote it. Anyone who claims this stuff is healthy is more full of shit than a campground outhouse. I understand these are popular, charismatic people who could charm the fangs off a snake, but that shouldn’t win them a free pass for ethics. I doubt Will Gadd chugs a Red Bull before clambering up WI6 ice! To watch Megos, Lama, Gadd and others fawning at the feet of Mammon just to score a few extra bucks for their next climbing trip makes me sick to my stomach. The amount of harm done to young people who admire these hero climbers and begin ingesting toxic substances is incalculable. They may as well accept sponsorships from Phillip Morris — and in fact they probably would! Maybe they could even borrow a slogan from the Marlboro Man; ‘Red Bull tastes good like chemicals should.’ Promoting cigarette smoking may even be more ethical than promoting Red Bull because the harmful effects of nicotine are widely known, whereas the side effects of taurine and other Red Bull ingredients have been less publicized. With climbing making its debut in the Olympics soon, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Megos, Gadd and company pimping McDonalds or Pepsi Cola. They should be ashamed of themselves. Squamish climbing Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/squamis… My Blog: WhippersandTears.com Follow me on Medium.com: medium.com/@disruptivetech Follow me on Facebook: Facebook.com/disruptivetech…

Lol. Then vote with your dollars and don't drink it. Does Redbull claim it's "healthy"?

...why Jim? What's wrong with Austrian pharmaceutical companies?

Red Bull sucks but not because it turns out shitty drinks.

If you wanna hate on Red Bull research all the problems with the Red Bull Rampage. Now there's some messed up sh*t.

Ted, one recent health trend has been toward fresh, local, produced by farms. This is a petroleum product, produced far from here, by a drug company. Not a poster child for healthy food. So I was making a joke about that, phrased in quadruple negative.

Ah, I assumed you were being serious. As a Chemistry teacher I have a little bit of a trigger for blanket paranoia over "chemicals" in food. Although, it is always fun to point out that being a petroleum product actually makes it Organic...

Need help with this very topic in this conversation here: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1154140/Red_Bull_Climbers_Suck#Post1154140

Ah I get it. JesseJames is more of a thunder muscle kinda guy:
youtube.com/watch?v=kfPReIA…

I love Red Bull's business model. Sell millions of dollars worth of crappy energy drink to drunk college students. Take that money and sponsor ridiculously cool trips and stunts. Red bull base and ski is off the charts. What is not to like about them?

ViperScale wrote: Alcohol has got to be the biggest problem I see climbers doing. It slows your healing so it is crazy when I see people on week long trips chugging beers every night.

God I dont know what a climbing trip would be like without chugging beers every night. Never tried it, is it fun?

Bill Kirby wrote:Red Bull sucks but not because it turns out shitty drinks. If you wanna hate on Red Bull research all the problems with the Red Bull Rampage. Now there's some messed up sh*t.

What is wrong with rampage? Do you not like freeride mountain biking?

climbing friend,

if you are looking for something to truly disgust, you are dropping the shot of jaegermeister into the cup of redbull while in you do the college, consuming at least 4-5 shots and 2-4 red bulls. you will feel most excellent for short time, then most horrible for days passing, and possibly like you are doing the dying and/or having hte seizure or like you have drank entire volume of blood from dead moose corpse

trailridge wrote: What is wrong with rampage? Do you not like freeride mountain biking?

There's much wrong with the Rampage. You haven't read any of the articles that have been out? crashes? 5th place Pros and amateurs barely breaking even? Poaching lines? Hospital bills bankrupting riders? The costs being too much for amateurs to attend?

What makes you say I don't like mountain biking?

Skip ahead to 7:54 if you don't want to watch the whole talk.

Nobody is forcing the athletes to compete in events like Rampage. I do slightly disagree with the alteration of land, but it's all done in legal manners so as to not create access issues. If athletes aren't making money or don't feel the risk is worth it, there are plenty of other ways for them to make a living.

But Rampage is the way the sport is going. Every single sport is pushing its limits. Climbing has free soloists and trad climbers breaking into harder grades. Alpinists are going after the most harrowing first ascents. Even less extreme sports like running are seeking to break limits like a sub 2:00 marathon, which comes with its own risks and chance of injury. Its why we do what we do; to get that rush from challenging ourselves or finding something new. Rampage is the outlet for those on the bleeding edge of their sport, sometimes quite literally.

Ben Murphy wrote:Nobody is forcing the athletes to compete in events like Rampage. I do slightly disagree with the alteration of land, but it's all done in legal manners so as to not create access issues. If athletes aren't making money or don't feel the risk is worth it, there are plenty of other ways for them to make a living. But Rampage is the way the sport is going. Every single sport is pushing its limits. Climbing has free soloists and trad climbers breaking into harder grades. Alpinists are going after the most harrowing first ascents. Even less extreme sports like running are seeking to break limits like a sub 2:00 marathon, which comes with its own risks and chance of injury. Its why we do what we do; to get that rush from challenging ourselves or finding something new. Rampage is the outlet for those on the bleeding edge of their sport, sometimes quite literally.

There has been quite a few write ups on the concept on how sponsorships etc. are compelling athletes to take unessesary risks, and what it means for the future. Bigger airs, snow loaded lines, bigger cliffs, more turns etc.

When Caleb Moore died in the x-games I know alot of people took a look at this phenomenon. It's not much different than the NFL where athletes are basically signing on for a shortened and probably very disfuntional end of their natural life. Is it enough for me to stop watching football or ski viedos? That makes me part of the problem as well, but it's definitely an issue where each person has to go bigger, harder and faster just to be relevant.

Will Gadd actually drinks the stuff! I saw him crush a few in the warm-up tent before the ouray ice fest comp haha

Scott McMahon wrote: There has been quite a few write ups on the concept on how sponsorships etc. are compelling athletes to take unessesary risks, and what it means for the future. Bigger airs, snow loaded lines, bigger airs, more turns etc. When Caleb Moore died in the x-games I know alot of people took a look at this phenomenon. It's not much different than the NFL where athletes are basically signing on for a shortened and probably very disfuntional end of their natural life. Is it enough for me to stop watching football or ski viedos? That makes me part of the problem as well, but it's definitely an issue where each person has to go bigger, harder and faster just to be relevant.

That's an interesting point, but I suppose there probably a chicken vs. egg argument there. Lots of people do interesting (i.e., heady) stuff, even without sponsorships, because they're driven by ambition, personal expression, etc. It's certainly possible that some of these folks feel the need to do something bigger and badder, but given how out there some of the stuff they're doing is, it may be a natural extension of that activity.

I'd argue risk tolerance in alpine climbing (climbing in general?) has gone down in recent decades. More accidents are simply a function of more participation. I'm unsure whether sponsorship has much of an influence.