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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 7, 2012 - 11:18am PT
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okay, there's two threads right now which are discussing this, so let's try for a little focus.
i don't want to hear about climbers' prowess on the links so much as a comparison of the two pastimes. post what you will, but i think climbing really has some potential to replace golf as the "everyman" sport, and it would be good for everyone.
the guy who got me into climbing, dick ingraham of las cruces, new mexico, used to make the following observation:
"climbing is a lot like golf. one is vertical, the other horizontal. the difference is that, once you've bought all your equipment, climbing has no green fees."
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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both are very time consuming
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Both have been known to ruin a good walk.
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Curt
Boulder climber
Gilbert, AZ
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Golf goes like this: Whack, oh sh#t.
Climbing goes like this: Oh sh#t, whack.
Curt
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Golf builds you socially while climbing ruins you socially. Climbing on the otherhand will build you physically while golf will ruin you physically.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Charlie, I've never suffered any rockfall or avalanches while golfing.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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At that last slide show in Oakland, Bachar said something along the lines of;
"I even took up golf.... And that's way harder than climbing"
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Friedo
Trad climber
South Lake Tahoe
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Curt pretty much nailed it!
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 7, 2012 - 12:33pm PT
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yea, curt has a great one there--maybe the first joke of a new genre.
lots of golf jokes, but i don't know if i can think of a single climbing joke (apart from certain climbs themselves). i do know a couple of guide jokes.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Climbing will NEVER be an everyman sport. Too scary, dangerous, physically and mentally demanding for the average person. Plus it's boring on TV. Not that golf is much better but golf has that same competitive element that makes other sports engaging, you want to see who wins.
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 7, 2012 - 12:48pm PT
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climbing isn't for everyone, but then neither is golf. that's not what i mean by an everyman sport. an everyman sport is something people keep on doing after high school and college because they enjoy it, instead of leaving it to the professionals.
i wonder how many golfers watch golf on television. i'll bet most serious golfers don't want to know how well tiger woods did today. i've spent much of my climbing career meditating people like peter croft, john bachar, and now, alex honnold, out of existence.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Tony.....good one.
It's pretty EZ in both sports to cheat a little bit.
Fix a bad lie, pull on a bolt, whatever.
And then convince yourself that your "pretty good" when in reality you suck.
When I golf, I love to have money on it, keeps it honest.
That is why I just love the money offers in climbing, JBs 10,000 offer
and the Refiners Fire debacle are classic.
When I watch "sport climbers" I just shake my head at the general lack of any effort to send a root .... they do the "take" and loose out on a onsite when all they needed to do was downclimb a few moves to a no hands rest.
Guess they don't play the climbing game.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Golf goes like this: Whack, oh sh#t.
Climbing goes like this: Oh sh#t, whack.
It's great to be able to agree with you, Curt, and I also have to agree with Tony's comment; golf loses something if there's no money riding on it.
I'm not sure climbing has quite the same hustler population as golf, at least not yet. I remember a cover of Golf Digest years ago with a picture of Sam Snead saying "An even bet just ain't fair. I'll show you how to get your rightful advantage!"
John
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zBrown
Ice climber
mercenario de merced
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I listened to the tape of that show. At the end Bachar says:
"always use a rope guys and gals - stay safe"
didn't say if he meant golf or climbing.
He says also (approx) "it's easy to fool other people, don't go foolin' yourself".
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Dick_Lugar
Trad climber
Casper the Friendly Ghost Town!
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Ahhhh...finally a topic I finally feel confident enough to chime in on. Since my daughter was born 4.5 yrs. ago, golf is my main sport. Only takes 2-4 hrs depending on if I play 9 holes or 18 instead of taking up 1/2 a day or full day like climbing used to. Gets me outside and demands similar focus that climbing demands, if you want to score well that is. You drop your focus on one shot, and it can blow your score out of the water! And when you hit a shot pure...now that's a great feeling. Golf is also highly addictive and I obsess about it much like I did with climbing. I guess I've just substituted one addiction for the other. I love to practice all aspects of the game: Chipping, putting, short irons, mid irons, long irons, etc. It's fun to try to master something that can't ever be mastered...maybe that's called "delusional", but I pursue it nonetheless. Oh well...
EDit: And then there's winter golfing! Love it, the colder the better. Use a lady's ball with lower compression so it firms up like a regular ball. Use a regular shaft driver so that it firms up to a stiff flex. Love hitting out of the snow banks, much like hitting out of sand! Best of all...NO PEOPLE in the winter! the course is wide open!
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Gunkie
Trad climber
East Coast US
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"climbing is a lot like golf. one is vertical, the other horizontal. the difference is that, once you've bought all your equipment, climbing has no green fees."
Didn't Sutton and Burton take a club, balls, and a chunk of carpet on an ascent of the Nose (though El Cap Spire on Salathe' seems like better option)? I understand that they proceeded to hit amazingly long drives onto the valley loop from El Cap Tower. Now that's golf!
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Other than the obvious differences in the physical mechanics and "tools", I think there is similarity in the mental state and focus that you need to attain to golf or climb well. You know when you're in the "zone" and things become more effortless and intuitive. There are similar problem solving and risk/reward decisions that have to be made (but with very different consquences for errors ;-)
Once you start overthinking in either one, everything starts to go off the rails. One bad shot or one bad move can change the situation drastically.
Also, if you get in with a good group of folks and do either regularly, it makes the experience even more enjoyable.
If you take either one too seriously, your f*cked.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Gunkie,
In the days when the Ahwahnee still had its pitch & Putt course, I wanted to take some balls and a five iron and see if I could hit a green from the Jungle at the top of the Arches.
I have combined backpacking and golf, though. We brought a few dozen "water balls" and a driver and a few tees to one of the Dinkey Lakes and, after appropriate lubrication, proceeded to attempt to drive the lake. Several did!
John
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Wow John, Never knew there was a P&P near the Ahwahnee. That's a hoot.
Never been so fustrated as when I attempted to be a decent golfer. With climbing, you know your skills. You might have a "high gravity" day, but once you master 5.6, you know you can climb 5.6 just about any day.
With golf, you might shoot your best score one day, only to go out the next time and shoot like a punter.
That's why Tiger was so good for the game. Folks could rally behind a single player. Now, you get folks who are ranked 143 winning a PGA event. Nobody has the control to be consistently good, and you have no way of knowing if you can even hit the sweet spot on a given day. Man, that's rough...
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Most of what I do in climbing came intuitively so I approached golf the same way - wrong! Absolutely EVERYTHING I wanted to do intuitively was dead the opposite of what was required. Golf pretty much requires you find your inner robot and have him strangle your inner monkey.
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