There is nothing wrong with climbing for fun, exercise or whatever

me thinks Dingus has waaaay tooooo much time on his hands.

the dictionary definitions are as follows:

alpinist: a mountaineer that climbs mountains primarily in the Alps
mountaineer: a person that climbs mountains

I don’t understand why do I need to explain myself to PP, and as part of my activities I Bird watch, I hike, I fish, I climb, I ride snowmobiles, I watch the sunset etc.
There is allot more to the title outdoor enthusiast then we like to admit…but this is a whole different story.
So yes, calling someone alpinist is actually limiting the experience and sharpening the so call aloof image…someone call the title eccentric…my question is, one adopt the title out of definition or out of egoism booster??? Now there is a fine line….it is cool to be aloof these days doesn’t it. so we all alpinists although we don’t know sh!t about what dose it mean so we need a topic that define it :wink:

There is nothing wrong with climbing for fun, exercise or whatever. I was jsut pointing this out as it applies to this discussion. If you are climbing simply for enjoyment then you most likely arent gettting up at 4am to go climbing when you know you are going to get wet, be hungry and possibly die. There are other reasons. Im not saying that it being fun isnt one of them....its always fun later.

My original definition stands,

Dingus Blows. (I think the boy fouled himself!)

sorry. Your input is rejected. Feel free to resubmit in the new year. I believe the Word Committee meets the first week of Feb. Your paperwork will need to be submitted no later than one week prior to receive any consideration. Oh, you' may want to brush up on your arguments before then. Somehow, they-just-don't-do-it.

al•pin•ism also Al•pin•ism ( l p -n z m)
n.
Mountain climbing, especially in the Alps

See ya then HO.

DMT

Mark Twight's take:
Alpine style is mountain climbing reduced to its purest essence,…
Alpine style means attempting to climb mountains on the most equitable footing possible, neither applying excessive technology to overcome deficits in skill or courage nor using permanently damaging tactics and adhering to this ethos from beginning to end.
climbing the hardest routes with the least gear.

the opposite?:
fixed ropes, siege tactics, stocked camps, Sherpa support, oxygen.

So punk, what exactly are you arguing for? That we strike the word alpinist from the language? That any use of it, or any term that carries some positive attributes and is not very well defined, should be discouraged for fear that it might be misused as a boast? That nobody is an alpinist or a mountaineer or a big wall climber or a bird watcher? We are all simply "outdoor enthusiasts"?

Well what about indoor activities? Isn't the term outdoor enthusiast a bit pompous? Surely the indoor crowd (gym climbers, knitters, players of Monopoly) will feel slighted. Exactly what does "outdoor" mean anyhow?

Main Entry: 2outdoors
Function: noun plural but singular in construction
Date: 1844
1 : a place or location away from the confines of a building
2 : the world away from human habitations

What if you're just in the backyard? Then there are those who are unenthusiastic about their outdoor and indoor activities and they'll be plenty ticked off as well by your high and mighty claim of enthusiasm.

Punk. For someone with supposedly so little ego, you sure come across as arrogant when it comes to how other people use words.

Yep...none is doing it as life style...

but if u do you earned it

But I thought it was just about ego?? Did you earn your gear whore title?

this is kinda a silly topic to have a serious dicussion about isnt it?

we all alpinists although we don’t know sh!t about what dose it mean so we need a topic that define it :wink:

I do not know what all the fuss is about. Simply put, alpinists are a subset of Mountaineers. From a practical point of view most mountaineers should have some alpinist skills. The higher a mountaineer wants to go the more alpinist skills he needs. Latitude and time a year also effects this issue as well. So the difference between a mountaineer and an alpinist mountaineer is where (or what mountain) the mountaineer chooses to climb. If the conditions are right (latitude, weather season, elevation) he will have to be an alpinist.

we all alpinists although we don’t know sh!t about what dose it mean so we need a topic that define it

This was a discussion about what the words alpinist and mountaineer mean.

Perhaps it wouldn't have set off alarms in your brain if we'd discussed it as alpinism and mountaineering. While one could argue against assuming the title without paying serious dues,

you could still be a Monday thru Friday nine to fiver (like say, Mick Fowler) and go out and participate in alpinism as a hobby, without the heavy baggage of the big ego term alpinist around your neck.

The point of being egoless is somewhat disingenuous in the first place. "I'm better than you because I have no ego" is a laughable argument.

Neri, you use the moniker "punk" and call yourself a "whore". These are expressions of your ego, whether you consider them positive or not. They are affectations, no different than a blue haircut or a bone through your nose; they are ways of saying "this is ME". And there's nothing wrong with that. Nor is there any evil in discussing the differences between alpinism and mountaineering.

so???

Now if u were man enough u will get out behind the handle name bent over and take it like a tranny

Exactly. So what? But you jumped to the conclusion that the words by themselves presumed elitism. As if one could not call themselves an artist or a scientist for fear of alienating the janitors and construction workers of the world. Are all of these pursuits identical? Well? Actually, no they're not. Alpinist and mountaineer are also differerent.