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ja
Feb 10, 2006, 12:58 AM
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Forgive me if this has been asked before, but I am curious. How many of you climb with your spouse as your partner? Would you say that climbing with a friend is better? Or maybe that you have more trust in your spouse, and so choose them? I only ask because I am still fairly new to climbing, and it is the first time my husband has taken a real interest in a sport I am learning.
Thanks!
Ja
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nola_angie
Feb 10, 2006, 1:11 AM
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Registered: Sep 1, 2005
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WOOT! Let's hear it for another chicka getting their sig. other into climbing! Urm...that's kinda assuming you are a woman. Either way, YOU ROCK!
I climb with my boyfriend. He used to trad in the 80's then got out of it, then when we started dating, I pulled him back in! Right now, we mostly sport climb. Climbing with a sig. other is a million times better. Friends can flake, and there are more scheduling hassles. Husband/ *serious and stable* boyfriends are a million times better, and that way, you'll know they'll never ditch you.
I trust Jim on my belay more than I trust anyone else. If I'm hitting a strange point where a skilled eye for where I land when I fall is needed, it's him whose got my line. I wish I could say it was the other way, too...but he's getting over his fear of having his lightweight girlfriend on his belay.
I think it adds a great dynamic to a relationship. Definitely exposes trust and communication issues in a way where you HAVE to work them out.
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weaver
Feb 10, 2006, 1:13 AM
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Registered: Aug 24, 2005
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My wife is afraid of heights and will never be interested in climbing. She does belay on the rare occasion I set foot in a gym. I use to wish she would take up climbing, but upon further reflection I am glad she does not have interest. It means that I will not have to worry about seeing her get injured or killed (worst case) climbing and the same is true for her in that statement.
Besides it gives me time to get away from the Honeydo list and all other things that come with marriage ..
:)
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climbingaggie03
Feb 10, 2006, 1:21 AM
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I used to climb with my serious girl friend, and it was fun, but generally I enjoy climbing with the guys more. I think cause we push each other harder whereas when my girlfriend and I would clmb together it was more about having a good time. She also had more fun climbing with the girls I think so it worked out well. If yall enjoy climbing together that's great, just don't get into a fight on the 4th belay ledge :D
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mccarthykm
Feb 10, 2006, 1:23 AM
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Registered: May 17, 2004
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I climb with my wife and it's great. The only problem is that she gets mad when stuff that's hard for her is easy for me.
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kachoong
Feb 10, 2006, 1:45 AM
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Registered: Jan 23, 2004
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My girl is the best climbing partner I've had.... even though our abilities are different we always enjoy our days on rock.... I love long moderate multipitch routes tied into the same rope as her.... belay ledges are that much more cozy! ....it's the sharing of trust, commitment, company and being out there together that really matter.... We encourage each other always and she pushes me when I'm at my limit like no other climbing partner I've had.... then we have the opportunity to return home and ramble on for hours about our day....
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pipsqueekspire
Feb 10, 2006, 1:52 AM
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Registered: Nov 3, 2003
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I met my wife climbing when we were both guides. Now she is pregnant with our first and still gets up 11a TR's. We are off to Josh this weekend and hopefully for the next 50 years of weekends to come. I would never trade her in for another partner..... unless it's cold out. Once we start to talk about big mountains and ice her hands seem to go limp and useless. You just have to learn to enjoy the outings together that you can and both accept your limits. Her limit is cold. My limit is shopping.
Oh- go buy yourselves a tandem fullsuspension mountain bike. No matter how hard I try I cant leave her in the dust. That is way more fun than her crying at the end of every ice pitch from the screaming barfies.
Climbing with you wife makes the portaledge a lot more fun and it makes pooping the next morning a little less akward than trying to poop infront of your more manly partners. Please dont shake the ledge though... she finds that less funny than other partners do.
I feel bad for those couples that stay home on weekends "together" but in reality he goes golfing and she goes shopping and then they meet up at 4pm to go to the Jones's for a BBQ. Be glad that isn't you!
-pip
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zxcv
Feb 10, 2006, 10:36 AM
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I mostly climb with my serious girlfriend and love the fact that we can share the experience together. There is none of the undercurrent of competition that I sometimes feel around other guys- and she looks alot better from below than they do. I will admit though that there is a bit of fear about climbing with her- after all, if a friend falls and gets hurt, it would be very unfortunate, if she gets injured, it would tragic. I find myself feeling a bit uneasy when she runs it out or is on a high ball problem. It's a small price to pay, but it's there nonetheless.
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moci
Feb 10, 2006, 11:40 AM
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for pushing myself hard i prefer going with the guys because of this competition thing. but since i love to combine travelling and climbing i am very happy that my wife enjoys climbing, too.
two years ago in spain she had a serious climbing accident (almost lost a foot) with me on the other end of the rope. we spent a week in a spanish hospital and ended our one-year-around-world-tour (so the plan) after two weeks in andalusia. sounds like a tragedy but retrospectively it was a good experience. we got married shortly after she had recovered and last summer she started climbing again. it took me very long to get those pictures out of my head but now to see her climb makes me very happy and climbing together is a much more intense experience.
to keep it short: we'll be travelling california in april/ may and we'll be climbing there for sure.
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elepita
Feb 10, 2006, 1:21 PM
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Registered: Jun 23, 2005
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I started climbing a little before I met my husband and we met ice climbing in the rockies. Since we met he has been the best partner I have ever had and will ever have, he was way more experienced than I was and tought me everything I know. He has always had all the patience on the world to belay me for hours while I have been working on a route or when I have been leading a trad pitch that was hard for me. He has helped me to train better, he has boosted confidence in me to try things I might have never tried. And what the hell I love to french kiss with him really high up on a multipitch climb.....he asked me to marry him on top of Lost Arrow Spire...we just got married 2 weeks ago so I am just still drooling here.... :)
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reg
Feb 10, 2006, 2:09 PM
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Registered: Nov 10, 2004
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yes - climb together. best partner cause she's always around when time allows for climbing. she is not afraid of heights (i am) and has great fun. super saftey concious - as i am - so we move slow and double chk etc. but we're havin tons o fun!
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jkarns
Feb 10, 2006, 3:15 PM
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Registered: Feb 13, 2003
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My wife is my primary climbing partner. We have travelled extensively to climb together and have lived out of a car together for months at a time. I would have it no other way.
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carrotclimber
Feb 10, 2006, 3:39 PM
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Registered: Dec 20, 2004
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My boyfriend introduced me to climbing within a week of us meeting and I was hooked instantly. We live together now and both work at a climbing wall. I love climbing there with him, but outside it is tougher... even though that is what both of us would prefer to do. First off, he is a much stronger climber than me. I know that it won't stay that way forever, since I have only been climbing for a little over a year, and plan to keep doing it... but it makes it difficult to do the same climbs. The other issue is that since he has 50 lbs. on me (I am 130 and he is 180), we are both nervous about me belaying him when he is leading (trad especially). We have practised me catching lead falls in the gym... and luckily I haven't had to catch one outside yet. Right now, most things that he want to trad lead are at the right level for me to follow and clean... but that isn't a very balanced partnership, and I am working to remedy that.... even if it takes a while.
So, I love climbing with him, but there are challenges that are frustrating for the time being. If anyone has any advice, let me know.
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sumchum
Feb 10, 2006, 4:01 PM
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Registered: Aug 23, 2004
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My situation is slightly different. My girl introduced me to climbing. I met her in J Tree, she had just come off about 6 months on the road and I was working on a project based out of PA. She took me into the park to a little traverse called Gunsmoke (thought it would be a fun problem to start with) Yeah... 60ft V3 traverse. In hindsight probably wasn't a bad idea, can't fall far on that one.
Anyway, I fell in love with her and climbing. I really love the common ground, problem solving and experience that we've shared together, it helps in other areas of our relationship.
Other than that, it really sucks that she is better than me, no really.....she is...that sucks...I need a beer
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angry
Feb 10, 2006, 4:11 PM
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Registered: Jul 22, 2003
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I post this knowing full well that my girlfriend will read this.
About 7 or 8 years ago, I pulled a girlfriend into climbing. She climbed with me and I thought she even had talent. Now we've been long broken up and she no longer climbs. Seems like a waste. The question is whether she enjoyed it or just said she did.
My current girlfriend is a climber. In fact, she's a tough one. The trouble we have is how opposed our styles are. She is a light and fast alpine climber, glacier traverser, mountain hiking, ice climbing, and rapping off buried Snickers bar type. In short, though the individual moves may be easy, her routes would likely kill me.
I on the other hand adore Wingate sandstone. Splitters, mmmm (drooling). I also climb powerful overhanging 60 foot granite cracks. And endurancy long 1-4 pitch trad. I occasionally branch out and do something like the Rostrum or Levitation 29, but most of the time I'm pushing as hard as I can within 200' of the ground.
So we aren't each other's exclusive partner. We both understand this and just agree to miss the other when one is off on a trip.
The current plan is to use each other. I'm using her to add adventure to my climbing, she'll use me because I can pull down pretty hard. I feel like I've got the better end of the deal, shhhh, don't tell her.
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mother_sheep
Feb 10, 2006, 4:18 PM
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Registered: Jul 18, 2002
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I've climbed exclusively with a significant other and it was good but that was before I had my own ambition in climbing. I was pretty much willing to follow him where ever he wanted to go and I did. Now, it's a little different. My current bf is a total desert rat that enjoys hanging upside down in offwidth cracks and pushing himself far beyond anything that I would even enjoy climbing. Me, I enjoy climbing in the mountains on long, moderate alpine routes with ice, rock, and snow, without anyone in sight. A lot of the routes that he enjoys climbing would be too hard for me and the routes that I enjoy climbing would be too easy for him. BUT, we're in this phase where we know that when we're together we really enjoy each other's company so that means that I'm going to do my best to develop a taste for chicken wings and maybe at some point this summer, I'll even leavittate. Who knows? At the same time, he's going to do some alpine routes with me this summer and I've already had him on a 13k' peak with me this winter. I'm going to use him to help me climb harder and to get a better feel for the desert and he's using me to get out there and do a little more adventurous stuff. We dig each other enough to compromise our preferred styles of climbing to be able to spend a little more time together. I also intend to keep my regular partners though. Most of them I've been climbing with for a while now. I think it's good to diversify and climb with your s.o. but also keep the ties that you have with your regular partners.
I’ve also been in a situation where I NEVER or rarely climbed with my significant other. He had no ambition for climbing and would go out to belay me but I could tell he wasn’t enjoying himself. It made the outings uncomfortable and left me feeling like I would have rather not gone at all. So I climbed with other men and that infuriated him. That relationship did not last long.
So really, it depends on your relationship with your spouse, how compatible you are together on the rock, how much you enjoy getting out on the rock with him/her and I think the styles and level that you both climb are factors to consider too.
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roc-dude
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Feb 10, 2006, 4:26 PM
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As most have mentioned your spouse can be your best climbing partner. I got my then girlfriend into climbing 4 years ago. I asked her to marry me on Snake Dike in Yosemite several years ago. The only draw back is she now can out climb me. I am very competitive and it kills me when she cruses a route I can’t get up. Sometimes I have to put my he-man ego in my chalk bag. The only time she is a girly- girl baby cold weather or unprotected scrambles.
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tradchick
Feb 10, 2006, 4:58 PM
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My guy is my primary climbing partner on rock and ice. There's no one I'd rather climb with and we both enjoy long trad routes, with face climbing being our favorite. We're both so glad to just be out there climbing that we've never had any issues about where we're headed for the day or the weekend.
I've noticed that I climb my hardest when I'm with him, not sure what that's about, but I like it. We've never had any problem with competitiveness either and have the same climbing goals.
There's nothing better than finishing a long trad route and chilling out on the top of the cliff, sharing the view and a kiss.
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wonderwoman
Feb 10, 2006, 5:26 PM
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I married my climbing partner!
http://www.rockclimbing.com/...p.cgi?Detailed=38876
It's the best thing that's happened to me!
At the particular time that we met, I knew that it wouldn't work out for me with anyone but another climber. Lucky for me, at that point in his life, Josh wanted to learn how to climb! It worked out perfect!
I love climbing with my husband. He is my favorite partner in the world. He climbs harder than I do now, but encourages me to push my limits. He is the one that I trust the most on belay, and he's always out for an adventure.
I consider myself very lucky to be in a marriage where we can share our passion for climbing. I highly recommend marrying your partner!
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wonderwoman
Feb 10, 2006, 5:28 PM
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In reply to: There's nothing better than finishing a long trad route and chilling out on the top of the cliff, sharing the view and a kiss.
Or flashing your partner when he gets to the top! :lol:
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granite_grrl
Feb 10, 2006, 5:38 PM
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Registered: Oct 25, 2002
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Why its fantastic: Can pick up and go away climbing almost any weekend, good tent parter ;), get to share something so important to you...and he fully understands, you can double (or in my case, triple or quadruple :lol: ) the size of your rack (honey, you don't really need the ball nuts this weekend, do you?), smooches on belay ledges, rappels during full moons, and total trust in the belayer.
Why its not fantastic: may enjoy climbing different styles/different grade ranges, fights can follow you up a wall, you'll say things that you would never ever say to another partner, so easy to climb with each other sometimes you neglect your other partners, feeling bad if you climb with another partner and they can't find anyone for the weekend.
In the end I've had far more good days than bad days. I love my boyfriend, on and off the rock......and how great is it that we agree to spend most of our honeymoon climbing :D
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iceisnice
Feb 10, 2006, 7:15 PM
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hell, if the bitches could keep up, i wouldn't mind...... :oops:
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tradchick
Feb 10, 2006, 8:48 PM
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In reply to: hell, if the b---- could keep up, i wouldn't mind...... :oops:
Bitch, come on up to NH. We can do an alpine route up Mt. Washington and I'll smoke your ass! :lol: :lol:
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blueeyedclimber
Feb 10, 2006, 8:55 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: There's nothing better than finishing a long trad route and chilling out on the top of the cliff, sharing the view and a kiss. Or flashing your partner when he gets to the top! :lol:
Now, what did I do with those pictures? :twisted:
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iceisnice
Feb 10, 2006, 9:12 PM
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.....and tradchick gives the throwdown...... :twisted:
honestly though....i've done most of the harder stuff there.....you'll have to come out here to the "real" mountains biotch. :wink:
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