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just_throw_it
Nov 2, 2007, 10:29 PM
Post #26 of 30
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Registered: May 15, 2007
Posts: 21
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climbsomething wrote: Kerwin gets it. Thanks for your intelligent contribution to this thread instead of furthering it down the path of "OMG durrr somebody said something clueless about climming cliffhanger vertical limit!" You seem to have more patience than I do. Heh. just_throw, you sound like you "get it" too. And know that n00bs and gumbies are not necessarily the same thing. It's ok to be one, but not the other.
thank you. alhough i did learn to climb in the gym, i am an avid outdoors person, and as soon as i climbed outdoors i was smitten. while i could stand to be better educated on backwoods/wilderness survival, i know that there are classes offered and plan to take. i will say that during the off season, i will be back on the gym, working on my technique and keeping my muscles toned--but it just won't be as much fun :(
does this mean i can remove the paper bag from my head when i climb now? it's really hard to get the helmet over it, and it kind of gets hot and stuffy.
(This post was edited by just_throw_it on Nov 2, 2007, 10:30 PM)
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epoch
Moderator
Nov 5, 2007, 1:08 AM
Post #27 of 30
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Registered: Apr 28, 2005
Posts: 32163
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Cross posting to keep the continuity of the subject relevant:
losgadh wrote: HOLLY HELL. I was just handed a copy of todays Daily News paper here in LA. page A13's article: Rush to scale rocks taking environmental toll" http://www.dailynews.com/...om-www.dailynews.com I feared the worst; another bad press article about how we are destroying the environment. For those of us raised old-school who are very careful of where we tread and packing out all our trash we get tired of being blamed for stupid peoples behavior. The article had statistics of the amount of trash that people are leaving at the bottom of well knows crags as well as quotes from one of yosems climbing rangers. To my happy surprise though, the article put the blame where it really belongs. All those damn gym rats who have no sense of value or consideration for that which is not Given to them as a right, but borrowed from the earth in good faith that we will treat it well. Shows such as "America's top Model" and the upswing of climbing gyms all over that do not teach people the way most of us were taught. My favorite quote of the entire article, was by a gym rat named Ha Pham from San Fran (thats right baby, I hope your on here so I can tear you a new one) who said "They should have signs and stuff and trash cans outside." and "I don't think they even clean your rocks off for you out there" There are so many things wrong with that quote that I don't even need to say anything, it speaks for itself.
Unfortunately for us it IS those very gym climbers who were interviewed for the article that represent the climbing community at whole. It's not those of us who keep to the shadows, mind our footsteps, and carry out bags of trash. The media went to the first place that they could to find climbers. It is these people that the uninformed public will listen to regarding all things climbing. Christ, just look at the askmen.com article a while ago.
Fortunately/unfortunately it is those very gym climbers that represent us. Discussions have been brought up about the popularity of the sport, Yosemite happens to be the Mecca for all things climbing in the US and what happens there seems to hold validity when things change elsewhere.
It may only get worse from here.
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stymingersfink
Nov 5, 2007, 5:24 AM
Post #28 of 30
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Registered: Aug 12, 2003
Posts: 7250
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I DID enjoy the Brian Law quote within the article. Appropriate, definitely.
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nswelton
Nov 9, 2007, 5:45 PM
Post #29 of 30
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Registered: May 30, 2001
Posts: 31
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i think some of you guys are missing a more important point, which was that the story was totally inaccurate -- and those inaccuracies were read by millions of people who now probably think climbers are a bunch of a-holes.
the 900 pounds of abandoned rope the author uses to illustrate how much trash climbers leave were actually 900 pounds of cables discarded by the nps decades ago on half dome that were removed by the yosemite climbing association. instead, that detail was used to show how much trash we leave around, not how much trash we actually pick up.
the climbers we meet in the story are either:
a) violent ('i'm gonna push him off a cliff')
b) thieves ('stole a grand of gear')
c) morons ('why don't they clean the rock?')
d) animal abusers ('tied his dog to a tree in bear country')
e) people who trample pine trees
that's an inaccurate portrayal of climbers. of newbies and of experienced climbers. of gym rats and of sport climbers and of trad climbers and of big wallers.
then she says that climbers leave crash pads strewn all over the forest floor. really? i'd like to go get me some abandoned crash pads. one more ridiculous assertion used to illustrate how reckless we are.
she says that newbies drill holes in rocks to place bolts. ever met a newbie who did that? i sure haven't. yet another ridiculous assertion.
she says that climbers leave holes and stakes in the ground at josh. ever seen one? not me. and these stakes erode the cliffs? what?
the divisiveness in the climbing community really pisses me off. get off the whole anti-newbie kick and look at the story holistically, and then it might become clear that this article is a huge disservice to the hard work the climbing community has done to build rapport and trust with land managers and the public at large. it's frankly embarrassing.
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cracklover
Nov 9, 2007, 6:50 PM
Post #30 of 30
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Registered: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 10162
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nswelton - interesting post, thanks! I guess that as rock climbing becomes a sport for the masses, it becomes fair game for articles such as this. The reporter is intelligently having fun at our expense. Sad/scary for us, but nothing new there.
GO
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