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awsclimber
Jan 31, 2003, 9:08 PM
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I just read the terrific article on walls in schools, and one thing caught my eye, it said that special needs kids have taken to it very well. It makes sense, its a relatively slow sport (ie no catching balls) and can be as easy or as difficult as needed, plus its a confidence booster. It seems natural that challenged people would climb, yet I've never seen any other than the occasional group in the gym. Do any of you know of any?
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aaron4peace
Jan 31, 2003, 9:11 PM
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do you have to blatantly point out the reason so many of us climb is because we lacked the coordination to play a real sport and be cool?
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flying_dutchman
Jan 31, 2003, 9:15 PM
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arron's got it right on... sadly
[ This Message was edited by: flying_dutchman on 2003-01-31 13:15 ]
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aaron4peace
Jan 31, 2003, 9:19 PM
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I think you should start a new club, I hope it catches on!!!!
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tanner
Jan 31, 2003, 9:32 PM
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I wonder if that is true(what aaron said) Becasue I never played any sports in school because I never liked them.
As far as fast things go. I'm very Ok with speed!! Down hill mountain bike racing is really athletic and fast. But sports with rubber balls.... Not for me.
Oh, I'm not disabled.
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climbsomething
Jan 31, 2003, 10:13 PM
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I think "slow," at least as used in the title, is the euphemism for "handicapped."
And it IS an unavoidable coincidence that most of us climbers were total goobers when it came to team sports. Me, forced to participate in gym class volleyball, basketball, floor hockey, soccer... it was a tragic scene.
My theory is: it's the individual aspect. I dreaded team sports because it was terribly embarrassing that I could not kick, throw, catch, pass when required. I was pretty useless, and I had several people around me to remind me of this. But that kind of audience isn't around with climbing. Sure, there's typically a gallery of judgmental (*spray*) peers, but it's not the same atmosphere or rigid rule set-up as team sports. It's just you up there, and you can kick ass any way you choose. Your ascent can be personalized, and your achievments and abilities have no relation to the next guy's. I don't think I am saying anything breakthrough, though. Isn't that how it is with all individual sports? Climbing, mountain biking, skiing, surfing, running, even wrestling or swimming (note that many climbers participate in these sports as well).
The physically and socially uncoordinated flock to climbing for a reason
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katydid
Jan 31, 2003, 10:22 PM
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I've played a lot of sports, ranging from softball, volleyball, and hockey when I was younger (and significantly less concussed ) to captaining my university's women's fencing team -- and coaching it once I graduated -- and, more recently, climbing.
Why do I point all these other sports out? As I've gotten older, my eyes have crapped out a bit (I'm legally blind in my right eye, although my left one's fairly functional), and I find that a sport I don't have to "chase" (in terms of having to catch something small or worry about getting clobbered by something/someone else) suits me just fine.
That's NOT!!!!!!!!!!!! (did I get my point across? ) why I started climbing, though -- I've been forbidden from doing anything high-impact by my knee doc, and I hate swimming, and don't see much point in cycling in an area where winter dominates most of the year. So it was a pretty simple choice, and I finally had an excuse to start.
I've seen a few kids with developmental disabilities at the local rock gym, and I don't think anyone's having as much fun as them. With the possible exception of the "other" children ... you know, the ones without developmental disabilities?
As I've stated on other threads, I think it's HIGHLY IRRELEVANT what people's abilities/disabilities are off the rock. Or on it, for that matter. No matter what you can or can't do physically, mentally, or otherwise, hopefully everyone who climbs does it because it's fun to them.
I have yet to see a thread on how amazingly cool it is to see tone-deaf people, short people, tall people, little kids, old people, women, men, Asians, whatever ... climbing. Think about that the next time you see a person with a visible disability on the rock.
And for the record, most people don't even know that my right eye doesn't work, unless I tell them. Like now.
Surprise!
Kate
who is a bit testy today
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freudian
Jan 31, 2003, 11:40 PM
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I feel insulted. Either way...
I never played 'traditional' sports in school. I hated them. The only sport I really liked was Basketball, but i suck.
I found climbing in college. I am good at it. I've never been good at anything athletic. It's not a directly competitive sport. There is no winning or loosing or direct contact with other players. You can climb and learn at your own pace.
Is climbing for slackers? Grin.
Andrew
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bandycoot
Jan 31, 2003, 11:43 PM
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I've worked at a climbing gym for 3-4 years. I've seen many people who are "special" (for lack of a better word at the moment) in there. We've had a few groups come in that loved it. Both mentally and physically handicapped. The physically handicapped appreciated it the most of course. If they couldn't climb, we had them jumar! It was very rewarding for them and us to see that we could help these people in accomplishing something and feel good about themselves. Also, for about a year we had a blind man who would come in and traverse. Talk about requiring lock off strength! He would have to search for EVERY hand and foot hold, THEN figure out how to use it. Also, there is a hijacked thread on this site somewhere about an autistic man who does the Gunsmoke traverse obsessively... lap after lab after lap, and witnesses say he is by far the smoothest climber they have ever seen in their life!
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flying_dutchman
Jan 31, 2003, 11:52 PM
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the only team sport im decent at is volleyball. Hmm, mabe thats cause i got like a 2-3" apeindex. go figure
then again, i do ski and mntn bike but those arn't team sports, just very high speed sports sometimes. at the same time, i also fit the definition of slacker. Man, climbing is a weird sport.
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hangdoggypound
Jan 31, 2003, 11:56 PM
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Yes! I'm pretty dang stoked to be a participant in a sport - and community - that takes us "left-over" type people and makes us happy. Know what I mean? I believe someone above posted that,
"The physically and socially uncoordinated flock to climbing for a reason"
Plus there are parapal...er um, parapal, um, - however you spell the word - people that don't have action in all 4 limbs climbing big walls, and blind folks summiting major peaks, and handicapped kids jugging ropes at the local gym.
And we all grin away, drink a Red Bull - and climb some more.
Kinda cool
[ This Message was edited by: hangdoggypound on 2003-01-31 15:57 ]
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djmeat
Feb 1, 2003, 12:57 AM
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The physically and socially uncoordinated flock to climbing for a reason
This is so me. Well at least half me. I'm pretty phsycailly coordinated but only so much as to be able to put both feet in my mouth at once.
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canrocker
Feb 1, 2003, 1:09 AM
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Regarding climbing not being a real sport: Ernest Hemingway once said, "The only true sports are climbing, hunting, and auto racing; the rest are just games." Take it from Ernie, baseball and soccer and hockey have nuthin' on us (but you already knew that, didn't you? )
-CR
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climbsomething
Feb 1, 2003, 1:33 AM
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Quote:I'm pretty phsycailly coordinated but only so much as to be able to put both feet in my mouth at once.
that's cute, meat
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xanx
Feb 1, 2003, 1:38 AM
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well, first off i've seen my fair share of blind climbers at my gym and i think it's awesome what they can do!
also i too lack the ability to play any other sports that require hand/eye coordination (maybe why i suck so much at dynos?) plus i'm not much of a "team player" so i tend to mix comparatively well with the local bouldering crew (read: ghetto).
however, many of the best climbers i know (especially boulder paul and this other beast kid, nick) snowboard, mountainboard, skateboard, surf, and rides BMX. they make me feel like a loser all over again
mike
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lox
Feb 1, 2003, 4:25 AM
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http://tardblog.com
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theperfectdrugsk
Feb 1, 2003, 4:56 AM
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yeh...the general consensus seems to be that us climbers are mostly inept athletically, as far as team sports...
myself, for example, i like to do things on my own, so i naturally dont like team sports...climbing is also the thing for me, because i play the drums, and i found one day that having such strong fingers/forearms made climbing stuff so much easier than it was for my friends...and ive been in love with it ever since
as far as metally retarded people, ive seen only a few groups around, but id never heard of climbing as "drawing" them...whatever...if they can do it, or even if they cant, but they still like it, its all good to me
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lox
Feb 1, 2003, 5:04 AM
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I am CLUMSY in the horizontal plane...
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epic_ed
Feb 1, 2003, 5:04 AM
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Hmm. Fitting. They don't call me "Special Ed" for nothing...
Ed
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collegekid
Feb 1, 2003, 5:46 AM
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I never really liked team sports either...not because i sucked at them,either. Here's some reasons i dislike team sports:
-what's the point? If someone wins, it proves nothing. The other guy or team could've had a bad day.
-the pressure
-dislike playing with balls, having them flying at my face (although football and basketball players appear to handle balls rather well)
that's about it. Although, i kinda like soccer.
I enjoyed running track much more...once you get a certain time, you can never undoe it..it's set in stone forever. Same with climbing..once you've done a route, it's forever. in team sports, it's different every year.
yeah
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lox
Feb 1, 2003, 5:56 AM
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Hey... don't group "team sports" with needing climbing to survive.
I am not retarded and played soccer and climbed.
As have many peeps.
There is a difference between team sports and beingphysically challenged, ok ?
Just don't ask a football player to explain it to you...
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squirrelgirl
Feb 1, 2003, 6:37 AM
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I am yet another person who fits the quote "The physically and socially uncoordinated flock to climbing for a reason". I'm the kinda person who will soar up a fun route only to trip over someone's gym bag as I'm walking off. I am also completely inept at any sport involving a ball.(with the exception of dodgeball ) On the subject of my social uncoordination...don't even go there.
[ This Message was edited by: squirrelgirl on 2003-01-31 22:39 ]
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boulderingmadman
Feb 1, 2003, 8:08 AM
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i am without a doubt the most accident prone person i have ever met in my entire life. it amazes me (and my friends, sometimes) how i can climb on rocks all day long, fall from 15 and 20 ft highalls and land on my feet, but ill trip over a pebble in the parking lot and smash my hand on a rock, or some $#!&.
the only sports i played in school were swimming and diving. now i DH mt bike and snowboard, and surf as well as climb, so dont think its really a speed a or coordination thing. i just dont like team sports. im not a team player...
but i think saying it "draws" mentally and physically disabled people, or whatever, is probably a simple matter of it being fun. its plainly fun, and thats why they are loving every minute of it. imagine how you look to someone who knows nothing about climbing after you reach the top of a long project and finally send it clean...you giggiling like an idiot, and prolly yelling and being stoked if your like me. its a fun sport, and relatively risk free, in a contained environment such as a gym...
[ This Message was edited by: boulderingmadman on 2003-02-01 00:11 ]
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dencio
Feb 2, 2003, 1:22 PM
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did Earnest Hemingway really say that?
Could you tell me where he specifically said the qoute?
I'm just thinking it would be a cool thing to print on a t-shirt or sticker or something
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fitz
Feb 2, 2003, 3:51 PM
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Going back to awsclimber's original question, I've seen a fair number of handicapped climbers, but primarily because I do a lot of volunteer work with handicapped children and adults. In another thread recently, I mentioned Ron Holland ( http://www.lostoutdoors.com/Ron.jpg ), a mentally and physically handicapped young man, whose efforts to summit Mount Whitney make him one of my all time climbing heros.
As for the "complete Goobers" assessment. I'm with awsclimber. Ms. Hill won Survival of the Fittest countless times, and many other climbers are outstanding athletes. But, the nice thing about climbing is that it is highly adaptive, and can be enjoyable at almost any level.
-jjf
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