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| Messages 1 - 7 of total 7 in this topic |
tyrone
Trad climber
california
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 19, 2004 - 09:30pm PT
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i just saw the kayak event on the Olympics yesterday. i don't know if this a new event or not, but i feel they have taken an awesome sport and stripped everything that was soulful about it away. they have these people kayaking on a man-made, hazard-free, pseudo river with a thousand spectators in bleachers looking on. the athletes are made to navigate around all these different poles in the best style possible or some damn thing.
they've turned a "soul sport" into a f*#king competition for points. everything about it is ugly including the athletes who are totally unconcerned with the values central to the sport: enjoying the beauty of untainted environment, surviving ON YOUR OWN against the forces of nature, NOT WORRYING ABOUT A STUPID POINT SYSTEM. they've sterilized something that was amazing so that a few people can fight over a gold trinket. it makes me so angry.
i don't think competition is bad. some sports were made for competition: track, swimming, high jump, or all forms of racing. but some sports are not: surfing, climbing, BASE jumping, etc. these sports should be measured based on the individual versus a particular force of nature: big waves to surf, big mountains to climb, very tall object to jump from, etc. and success should be based on conquering those forces and survival, not points.
i know people will say that climbing comps help push the limits of the sport, but i think that's bullsh#t. our sport has consistantly been pushed to higher levels in the outdoor arena. we certainly don't need people cranking plastic routes to push the limits of climbing.
i really hate how degrading the whole indoor climbing trend has been on climbing. don't get me wrong. it's awesome to have the gym as a matter of convenience when you can't get outdoors, but how do all of you like when people find out you're a climber and say something like "really? i'm a climber too. i did it at one of those walls they have set up at the mall." the general public views winning indoor comps as the very highest thing to aspire to in the climbing world.
how do you guys feel about climbing being the next olympic sport? after all, gold medals are way better than bagging summits.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Aug 20, 2004 - 12:05am PT
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Just wait until they start the Internet Olympics and we can enter the "Ranting" event.
I'd rate your post so you could know how you stack up as a ranter, but since it's not really competitive yet, we'll just keep it pure.
peace
karl
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Gene
Social climber
Two hours away
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Aug 20, 2004 - 08:30am PT
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Radical,
Good to have you back.
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the Fet
Trad climber
Loomis, CA
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Aug 20, 2004 - 09:34am PT
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I think of comps as another form of climbing. Different people are into different aspects of the sport; trad, bouldering, walls, etc. One isn't better than the other it's just what you prefer.
I'd prefer to be out on a long trad route, but I see the appeal of cranking in front of a crowd, especialy if there's some hotties to impress ;-). Isn't that what it's really all about?
It doesn't bother me if a gym noob says they are a climber. When I had a good landing on my first skydive (AFF - you jump with your own rig) the instructor said "great, you're GOING to be a skydiver" and I was thinking "what the hell did I just do?".
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Melissa
Big Wall climber
oakland, ca
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Aug 20, 2004 - 12:46pm PT
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When I had a good landing on my first skydive (AFF - you jump with your own rig) the instructor said "great, you're GOING to be a skydiver" and I was thinking "what the hell did I just do?".
Great post. I so relate. I've been climbing most weekends plus vacations for a few years, and still get similar "compliments" from people who've been at it much longer. They really mean it as a compliment too.
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tyrone
Trad climber
california
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 20, 2004 - 04:40pm PT
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i wasn't dogging new climbers or sport climbers. i was talking about non-climbers who have tried climbing once or twice and then compared their experiences to yours. not really that big of a deal. what i was disappointed about was what george carlin would call the "wussification" of adventure sports. (i don't use the phrase "extreme sports" anymore since extreme is now a flavor of doritos.) maybe some of you are right. maybe kayaking and rockclimbing deserve a spot next to ping pong and curling in the olympics.
i apologize for my language(seriously). i'm almost done with a deployment in baghdad, and i have developed such a dirty mouth being around only military people day in and day out. however, in a few weeks i'll be tying into my harness far away from here and all the internet hooplah.
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Flash
Ice climber
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Aug 20, 2004 - 06:16pm PT
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I agree, I am getting a little tired of dudes with shaved wet bodies hugging each other on my TV. And Mr. Hamm, where in the heck did you get that voice?
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