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hyhuu
Jun 20, 2012, 6:52 PM
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Really!! What's the point? Flame away.
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Parkerkat
Jun 20, 2012, 7:04 PM
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The point is that every weekend I DO NOT get up and take kids to hockey, I DO NOT get up and cut the grass, I DO NOT wake up and go for a jog, or bike ride or take trip to the gym. Every weekend I wake up and look my own fear, my own mortality in the eye and fight it. more times I lose but for the few times I win over my fear, my mortality, the more I realize I'm pushing my mind and body to limits that most are not willing to do. The point is to know what I am capable of. the Point is to feel alive and to do so you have to be in a situation that makes you feel alive - running down a concrete sidewalk in toronto doesn't quite do the trick.
That and an excuse to put down a few beers on our way back to the car are the reason I climb.
and I like turkey vultures too.. so yeah.
Cheers!
PS, I'm not a bad dad, I just don't have kids to take to hockey yet, and sure as hell hope they prefer to rope up in fresh air than to gear up in a stinky locker room at 5am!
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granite_grrl
Jun 20, 2012, 7:21 PM
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wonderwoman wrote: hyhuu wrote: Really!! What's the point? Flame away. What's the point of this thread?  Do you think that climbing is pointless? If so, don't engage in the activity.
Well, what's the point of most activities? Climbing is no more or less valid than cycling, running, rugby, or any other phsical activity.
I guess the point of climbing is to enjoy and challange myself.
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Traches
Jun 20, 2012, 9:58 PM
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Yeah... I like to carry ropes up walls. And then pull them down again.
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jae8908
Jun 20, 2012, 10:08 PM
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the point isn't climbing. It's all about the afterparty
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jamesnater
Jun 20, 2012, 10:32 PM
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Because rock climber.
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trenchdigger
Jun 20, 2012, 11:19 PM
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hyhuu wrote: Really!! What's the point? Flame away.
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hyhuu
Jun 21, 2012, 2:43 AM
Post #10 of 34
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My question isn't about why one climbs. You can rationalize, romanticize, justify for all the reasons you want, the activity is still pointless. That's not to say it's not awesome or fun. At least running has its root in human survival in ancient time (until some guys started a pissing contest to see who can get there first) and team sports is one of many forms of entertainment that apparently no modern society is without.
If I can quit climbing, I would and my family would be very glad but I can't, I don't know how to. It's even more pointless that I'm just a guy who climbs routes that others have done already. Yes this thread is also just as pointless.
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wonderwoman
Jun 21, 2012, 3:49 AM
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Climbers helped the peregrine falcons from going extinct by taking the fertile eggs for incubation & replacing them with dummy eggs. Then, putting the hatched young back in the nest. They also still inventory & band birds.
Some climbers can use their skills for good.
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SylviaSmile
Jun 21, 2012, 4:15 AM
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hyhuu wrote: My question isn't about why one climbs. You can rationalize, romanticize, justify for all the reasons you want, the activity is still pointless. That's not to say it's not awesome or fun. At least running has its root in human survival in ancient time (until some guys started a pissing contest to see who can get there first) and team sports is one of many forms of entertainment that apparently no modern society is without. If I can quit climbing, I would and my family would be very glad but I can't, I don't know how to. It's even more pointless that I'm just a guy who climbs routes that others have done already. Yes this thread is also just as pointless.
Of course it's not pointless! Haven't you ever watched The Princess Bride?? There is no way to scale the Cliffs of Insanity unless you know how to rock climb.
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rgold
Jun 21, 2012, 5:07 AM
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Whether climbing is pointless or not is beside the point.
I would say that, at heart, it is a fundamental human urge, and in that sense it is entirely different than virtually every other sport, with the possible exception of running. Turn a bunch of kids loose near some rocks and you'll see that urge in action. You don't have to explain anything. Turn them loose on a tennis court with some rackets and balls lying around and see if they pick up the rackets and start volleying...ha!
The desire to climb is educated out of most of us, but some rediscover it. That flash of recognition at the first exposure is something many climbers remember clearly. And even for most of society who have lost the physical passion for climbing, the essential urge remains in metaphysical form: the entire language of striving and achievement is filled with climbing and mountain metaphors.
We climb because the desire to do it is the most natural thing in the world. It has as much or as little point as our existence does, and the protoplasm wants to live.
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majid_sabet
Jun 21, 2012, 5:34 AM
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depends on what you do while climbing
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sungam
Jun 21, 2012, 1:55 PM
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Personally I think it's pretty pointless in the long run. The fact people went up some cliffs or mountains isn't going to mean shit in the future (nor does it really matter now). It's more fun then not climbing, though. So if the point is to have fun the it has a point, but if the point is to note be pointless on a global scale, then it's pretty pointless, get my point?
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LostinMaine
Jun 21, 2012, 2:09 PM
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A direct pirate from Grey Dick:
Steve Wunsch wrote: There are all kinds of values gotten out of climbing. Sometimes you can take a girlfriend up a climb and get laid for it. |
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pushdownonrock
Jun 21, 2012, 2:42 PM
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Nothing that puts a smile on your face is pointless ......so long as it doesn't take the smile from someone else....you should relax and take it for what it is...."people playing on rocks, having a blast"
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rhythm164
Jun 21, 2012, 2:56 PM
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no more so than basketball or American Idol
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6pacfershur
Jun 21, 2012, 3:29 PM
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i wish more people thought climbing was pointless,
maybe the crowds would go away....
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Traches
Jun 21, 2012, 3:38 PM
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trenchdigger wrote: hyhuu wrote: Really!! What's the point? Flame away. Only rock climbing. Ice climbing has lots of points.
I giggled a little.
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dynosore
Jun 21, 2012, 3:49 PM
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hyhuu wrote: My question isn't about why one climbs. You can rationalize, romanticize, justify for all the reasons you want, the activity is still pointless. That's not to say it's not awesome or fun. At least running has its root in human survival in ancient time (until some guys started a pissing contest to see who can get there first) and team sports is one of many forms of entertainment that apparently no modern society is without. If I can quit climbing, I would and my family would be very glad but I can't, I don't know how to. It's even more pointless that I'm just a guy who climbs routes that others have done already. Yes this thread is also just as pointless.
To me, team sports are far more pointless than activities that challenge me as an individual. My dog chases balls, I don't care to. Given your rationale, the only things that have a point are the bare essentials of survival; food, clothing, shelter.
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Dip
Jun 21, 2012, 4:24 PM
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dynosore wrote: hyhuu wrote: My question isn't about why one climbs. You can rationalize, romanticize, justify for all the reasons you want, the activity is still pointless. That's not to say it's not awesome or fun. At least running has its root in human survival in ancient time (until some guys started a pissing contest to see who can get there first) and team sports is one of many forms of entertainment that apparently no modern society is without. If I can quit climbing, I would and my family would be very glad but I can't, I don't know how to. It's even more pointless that I'm just a guy who climbs routes that others have done already. Yes this thread is also just as pointless. To me, team sports are far more pointless than activities that challenge me as an individual. My dog chases balls, I don't care to. Given your rationale, the only things that have a point are the bare essentials of survival; food, clothing, shelter.
And even those three are pointless if you think about it. In a hundred years what you did to survive will be a null point, because in the end it won't have worked anyway. I don't really think like this of course, just playing devil's advocate. I think there's a point to climbing; hell there's probably even a point to watching people play sports on TV, although it's not a point I care to explore. As long as it makes someone somewhere happy it's worthwhile, and I guess that's the point.
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sungam
Jun 21, 2012, 9:29 PM
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Even if we do leave the planet, we can't build anything that would travel fast enough to outrun the sun's expansion as it goes supernova in the timeframe*. Everything is pointless except eatin', matin', and sleepin'**.
*I made this up.
**And Ponies.
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shockabuku
Jun 21, 2012, 10:19 PM
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Of course. That's why it's fun; it's like playing in a box when you're a kid.
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