MP self awareness thread.

Thread for observations, be it good or bad, about our community at large.

I'll start us out.

No one should describe shoes they are selling with any type of rand damage as "lightly used", just because a car has 10,000 miles on it doesn't mean it was lightly used, if a grandmother only used that car to drive to church then it was lightly used, but if a teenager put the pedal to the metal, slammed brakes, and never kept up with matinence on it for those 10,000 miles, then the car has been used and abused for a relatively low amount of miles, not "lightly used".  Just be real with yourselves and your shoes will last longer, youre not "lightly using" anything, you're thrashing it.

This is a fantastic community.

Ian Luddenwrote:

Thread for observations, be it good or bad, about our community at large.

I'll start us out.

No one should describe shoes they are selling with any type of rand damage as "lightly used", just because a car has 10,000 miles on it doesn't mean it was lightly used, if a grandmother only used that car to drive to church then it was lightly used, but if a teenager put the pedal to the metal, slammed brakes, and never kept up with it for those 10,000 miles, then the car has been used and abused for a relatively low amount of miles, not "lightly used".  Just be real with yourselves and your shoes will last longer, youre [sic] not "lightly using" anything, you're thrashing it.

Trashing, not thrashing. The latter is the result of Gen-z's mis-hearing "trashing"; same category as "for all intensive purposes" and "buy my time".

Carolinawrote:

This is a fantastic community.

Definitely!

About a year ago, MPers from all over the country were sending box after box of stuff to my house, to be sorted out, sent on, or consigned at my local gear store, all to help my friend Fritz. Fritz had his car stolen.....along with pretty much everything he owned, already packed inside it, preparing to dirtbag. 

A year later?

Fritz and I are collaborating on selling gear on MP, which I purchased for cash, and I'm selling at my loss. Fritz is the coordinator, this time.

People all over the country are getting this gear, and helping out a local store that is, sadly, going under.

The same store that helped Fritz a year ago.

You people are sooo awesome.

Best, Helen

Marc801 Cwrote:

Trashing, not thrashing. The latter is the result of Gen-z's mis-hearing "trashing"; same category as "for all intensive purposes" and "buy my time".

You haven't seen me climbing. Thrashing is a pretty apt descriptor.

H.

Old lady Hwrote:

You haven't seen me climbing. Thrashing is a pretty apt descriptor.

Yep. Fine as a climbing descriptor, but you don't thrash gear. Or you didn't here thrash used that way until 10-15-ish years ago.

Marc801 Cwrote:

Yep. Fine as a climbing descriptor, but you don't thrash gear. Or you didn't here thrash used that way until 10-15-ish years ago.

HAH!

Quoted ya typi. 

O.

Typo.

Nvmnd.

Best, H

Marc801 Cwrote:

Trashing, not thrashing. The latter is the result of Gen-z's mis-hearing "trashing"; same category as "for all intensive purposes" and "buy my time".

Sounds like a guy who's never thrashed

Marc801 Cwrote:

Yep. Fine as a climbing descriptor, but you don't thrash gear. Or you didn't here thrash used that way until 10-15-ish years ago.

"Hear" would probably work better in that context.

Marc801 Cwrote:

Yep. Fine as a climbing descriptor, but you don't thrash gear. Or you didn't here thrash used that way until 10-15-ish years ago.

Hold the fucking line! Are you telling me someone used slang, and it's been 15 years without us banishing the vile weed from our lexicon???

I think, in general, we can be rather oblivious to social norms in the broader population.

Take, for instance, some guy who buys heavily used climbing shoes ... and is complaining about the condition of the shoes on the outside.  I mean, I think it's cool that he's cool with all the funk on the inside of the shoes.  I think a normal person might be kind of freaked out by that.  Nope.  Not us.  It's cool.

And, I think our ability to introduce ourselves to strangers in the climbing community as if we've known them all our lives is pretty cool.  For instance, I don't know this guy.  Never met him.  But, first thing I say as I'm coming up to the belay stance is, "Man, you guys sure left a lot of blood on that pitch.  Impressive." Then I follow up with, "Hey, mind if I squeeze between your legs to get to the anchor?  And, hope you don't mind my armpit in your face as I'm trying to find a way to rig my anchor.  I haven't bathed in a few days.  Sorry bout that, man.  I've been sleeping in my truck for the past month."  And then, he's all like, "No, man, it's cool.  Even though my girlfriend and I are staying in an AirBnB like real humans, we haven't bathed in three days.  Just keeping it real, you know."  And, somewhere in all of that, working in a first name introduction.  And, it's all cool.

And then, there's that awkward moment when someone you don't know drops some half-eaten food on the ground, and before he goes to throw it in the trash bag, he asks if anyone wants it ... and you raise your hand ... and nobody judges you ... not while you're standing there eating the other half of the bagel, anyway.  That's cool.

And then, there's peeing on people you just met.  In some circles, dudes pay extra for that.  But, in our climbing community, nope, you get that for free.  For instance, you're passing a slower party, and you are leading out from the belay, and one of the dudes in the other party finally decides to take that piss he was politely holding in while we were below.  And, even though I'm now above him ... I'm still getting pissed on ... because his piss is blowing upwards.  And, I can't even get mad.  Because it's just physics.  It's just how heated wall convection works.  It's cool.

And then, ...

The pisser probably knew the deal. Did you tip him at least?

M Mwrote:

The pisser probably knew the deal. Did you tip him at least?

Belayer pisser did not do this, man.

Marc801 Cwrote:

Yep. Fine as a climbing descriptor, but you don't thrash gear. Or you didn't here thrash used that way until 10-15-ish years ago.

It's as if language isn't a malleable construct that has the ability to change and be reconfigured as time goes on...

PWZwrote:

Belayer pisser did not do this, man.

Umm what?

The community at large seems unaware or unwilling to recognize that geologic timelines include now. Whole tops of mountains and faces of cliffs fall off all the time. "We" pretend that they're permanent monuments to "our" accomplishments and endlessly get into petty debates on whether or not there should be bolts, what kind of bolts, how many bolts, how they are placed, how close they are, what's "clean" gear and allowed, how much you can or should hang on cams. Like...a lot of these cliffs won't exist in their current state in 1000 years or even 100 in some cases whether I bounce test my cams or not. The bolts you almost threw hands over with some stranger on the internet will probably be buried in a talus field along with the cutesie plaque you made to mark the route. "We" largely need to relax and stop jumping at each other's throats on the ethics of the actual climbing surfaces, and start getting serious with people who stomp and piss all over the foliage around the climbing.

I made a thread with a sane argument and mountain project 100% ignored it. As I said in the other thread, mountain project really only engages if they can gain a sense of superiority. This also evidenced by JCMs thread. If people actually cared about the rock climbing more people would reply to trip reports, gear discussion, start threads with interesting ideas and those threads would be more popular.

Princess Puppy Lovrwrote:

I made a thread with a sane argument and mountain project 100% ignored it. As I said in the other thread, mountain project really only engages if they can gain a sense of superiority. This also evidenced by JCMs thread. If people actually cared about the rock climbing more people would reply to trip reports, gear discussion, start threads with interesting ideas and those threads would be more popular.

I give the people what they want. Vote JCM 2022.

--

In any case, I agree with the arguments you made in your bolts/access thread. Funny it didn't catch on; I thought that was a good argument. Perhaps it was too cogent and complete an argument? What you stated in that thread was correct, and there wasn't much more to say.

I Fwrote:

The community at large seems unaware or unwilling to recognize that geologic timelines include now. Whole tops of mountains and faces of cliffs fall off all the time. "We" pretend that they're permanent monuments to "our" accomplishments and endlessly get into petty debates on whether or not there should be bolts, what kind of bolts, how many bolts, how they are placed, how close they are, what's "clean" gear and allowed, how much you can or should hang on cams. Like...a lot of these cliffs won't exist in their current state in 1000 years or even 100 in some cases whether I bounce test my cams or not. The bolts you almost threw hands over with some stranger on the internet will probably be buried in a talus field along with the cutesie plaque you made to mark the route. "We" largely need to relax and stop jumping at each other's throats on the ethics of the actual climbing surfaces, and start getting serious with people who stomp and piss all over the foliage around the climbing.

For a second there I thought this was a sane and remarkably humanistic post, and then that last half of the last sentence happened.

Jason ELwrote:

Take, for instance, some guy who buys heavily used climbing shoes ... and is complaining about the condition of the shoes on the outside.  I mean, I think it's cool that he's cool with all the funk on the inside of the shoes.  I think a normal person might be kind of freaked out by that.  Nope.  Not us.  It's cool.

Hey man, in some circles people pay extra for that funk on the inside of the shoes ;) just saying.

MP can’t handle counter climbing culture takes. If warren Harding or the vulgarians existed today there would be never ending whinny threads about how rock climbing is being destroyed by these anti social freaks!!