...but I can climb.

I actually was pretty good at math back in the day. I was in honors math all the way through school. I didn't have an interest in it, however. I was not on the math team. I played basketball and soccer. I could do anything on paper but I was always amazed at the kids who could do problems in their head and just seemed to "get it" without thinking about it.

What's my point? Well, there are a whole lot of numbers in climbing. Fall factors, pendulums, different size cracks, different size gear that goes in the different size cracks, some logarithms or what not of holding power for our gadgets, climbs several meters long, ropes just a few mm in diameter, and what the hell is a kilonewton? I mean..I KNOW what it is. Something like 200+lbs. of force or whatever. But REALLY.....What is it? Can I punch you in the face and measure that in kilonewtons? I know that the bigger the gear, the more holding power it has (well, providing I placed it correctly, that is).

There is just so much to know and I feel that some people get it and some (like me) only understand it in concept. And by concept, I mean that pit in my stomach that tells me that I probably shouldn't fall on that piece because I am going to get punched in the face by a kilonewton. There is a lot that I can't have a specific intelligent conversation about but I still "get."

I don't know what size crack my yellow alien fits, but when I lock my fingers in it, I can reach for the right piece and place it blindly.

I probably couldn't accurately calculate a fall factor but I know how to prevent a high one.

I don't REALLY know how cams work, but I know how they "work."

I probably couldn't tell you what size all of my cams were, and probably with even less accuracy, the size of my nuts (That's what she said). But, I almost always grab the right piece.

I don't even know how long my 2 foot runners are (just kidding).

I understand why so many engineers are drawn to climbing. It's like a world of infinite math problems. I don't care about any of that, though. I just like to climb. I understand the math to a point. To the point that I stay relatively safe. I understand it the same way I understand how to budget my money. I will never be rich, but I pay my bills and save enough to enjoy myself. I know enough to know when I can run it out and when to sew it up.

Josh

Yer gonna die!!!111

Climbing for more than 20 years and I still refer to my cams as the red one or the yellow one. tell me to hand you a number 2 camalot and you'll get a blank stare. I know what size fits in where and I get why it holds or not.

Great OP.

Oh yes, I have an acquaintance who is all hung up with numbers, he has built a climbing training business on the numbers. so much so that the students need to know what number knot out of the Ashley's Book Of Knots. If you can't recite the numbers then you fail the course. What up with that. Better that you can tie the knot is my theory. Demonstrate that you know how to do what you do rather than be able to be a parrot and recite the numbers. Knowing the number of a knot will not keep you alive.

Nice post, Josh!

I agree 100% (obviously I am still technically a recovering engineer.)

I will sometimes identify my pro by volume... standards are different depending on location which makes for yet another conversion table. But what is climbing without conversion tables?


[image]http://www.rockclimbing.com/images/photos/assets/6/150066-largest_41979.jpg[/image]

Spaghetti pro never lets you down.

We ALL R, my friend. We ALL R!

Josh

Yeah. I have such a mish mash of gear that I just eyeball the size for nuts and know the colors and brands of cams and where they will fit. Depending on the climb I am on, I may have a mix of old camalots, new camalots, aliens, C3's, Metolius and Link Cams. For nuts, I think I have some WC mixed in with BD. Maybe it's just me, but I find it amusing when I see climbers have all the same gear (including color and brand of slings and biners (usually shiny new).


Thanks.


The problem with knowing and applying numbers is that there are so many variables which can effect them that I find it more useful in climbing to have experience, to understand concepts, and to climb intuitively. We don't climb on paper, we climb on rocks. I will leave the math problems for the rest of you to argue about. I'm going climbing!



Josh

the only numbers that get me in climbing are the cost!!!!!! like, i need a new rope=cost. black diamond mother of all cams set=cost. and so on and so on. or "hey i want to go climb this crag, its 997 miles away. @ 17 mpg gonna cost me 550 bucks just to drive there and back. im totally fine with all the kilonewtons, fall factors, number of cams i got, number of nuts, thier sizes, the size of my nuts on some climbs! just cant get the cost numbers down!

unfortunently when i bought the car had a great job, money was no object. i bought a vehicle i wanted. now, years later, gas has skyrocketed, and i cant afford to get a new car, so im kinda stuck at the moment, so yeah all you prius pimpin bitches, im jealous.
You drive a 17 mpg car and then complain about the money it costs to drive somewhere. Typical.

Ah, the irony of how learning enough to be competent typically just makes a person aware of how much they don't know.