Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
JLP
Social climber
The internet
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2017 - 06:46pm PT
|
what do YOU tell yourself I don't justify this activity. In general, you can wait until you are stronger for a route, and you can wait for better conditions. Beyond these two things, the risks in this sport are pretty low. I get satisfaction from the process of meeting the challenges, very little from any risks that, as an aside, might be involved. An element of risk generally pisses me off because it might force me to walk away.
|
|
thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2017 - 06:52pm PT
|
escaping reality is my reality
dingdingdingding
also like to hike, confront internally constructed boundaries, feel aloof up on them rarified ledge belays.
|
|
limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2017 - 06:55pm PT
|
I just climb super safe like a sissy. It's not dangerous at all
|
|
mudrock
climber
Eastside
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2017 - 07:54pm PT
|
velvet! said "Nothing is safe."
Werner said "Just keep on livin."
Yep... you're livin if risk and reward are much on your mind.
|
|
BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2017 - 08:05pm PT
|
Climbing is aful. Especially the trade routes close to the parking lot. Tell your friends how bad it sucks and to not bother taking up the sport.
This needs to be said outload over, and over, and over....
|
|
DanaB
climber
CT
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2017 - 09:32pm PT
|
Jon Gleason wrote that at least we (climbers) have experience and memories and fully live versus normal 9-5'er folks.
Are you kidding me?
|
|
Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 05:33am PT
|
How do we justify this activity?
The same way that a heroin addict justifies his next fix. No matter how many times I scared the sh#t out of myself free-soloing, I HAD to do it again.
I can't tell you how many times I made a deal with God, that I would quit climbing if he got me out my predicament alive. But the next day I couldn't stop myself from climbing again.
How many climbers do you think end up having a mid-life crisis? None, is my guess.
|
|
Wen
Trad climber
Bend, OR
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 08:24am PT
|
I struggle with this too Velvet, particularly the concept of introducing my kids to the sport. Sometimes it feels hard to justify, particularly right after a loss, and it seems like this is often lately.
I keep circling back to living in the moment and doing the things that make our life complete right now, not living in fear of what may come. If climbing is one of those things that help you live in the now, then maybe that's how we justify it? Maybe the risks of loss are balanced by the enjoyment of living in the tangible moment? Balanced by having a community of interesting people to spend your time with? Balanced by being in places that fill your heart?
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 08:25am PT
|
When people close to us, especially young people, die climbing we question. We wonder about the worth of continuing an activity with such obvious risks. For half of a century climbing has been an integral part of my life. Without climbing my life would have taken a completely different and unknown trajectory. I can only speak about the life I have led and I will say that the climbing lifestyle that has been so important to me has been a major factor in keeping me physically fit and mentally focused as I have aged.
Where would I be at 74 without climbing? Would I be in the same poor physical condition of most Americans my age? Hard to know but I can say that climbing has given me lifelong purpose and the drive to maintain fitness and health.
I know several much younger climbers, much younger than me, who tell me that climbing saved them from lives spiraling in the wrong direction towards alcohol and drugs.
Life is tough and it is framed by death. Whatever gives you meaning and purpose while you are alive is, to me, worth it.
|
|
pb
Sport climber
Sonora Ca
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 09:10am PT
|
i lit a candle yesterday for loved ones lost. it burns again this morning, partly for your pain. i will walk alone to the crag today trying to sort my thoughts. i expect to see friends old and new, to taste that drug we choose. if i am given safe passage i will turn and thank the spirit of that place. and in the moments embrace joy with a little sadness they pass so fast
|
|
Lambone
Big Wall climber
Ashland, Or
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 09:28am PT
|
Been asking myself the same thing lately. After having a very close encounter with a major rockfall on El Cap this fall I’m really questioning why I put myself in the danger zone with the risk of leaving my two little girls without a father. It scares me....
Still I can’t help making plans on the Captain for the Spring. I don’t think I can quit, even if I did want to...
|
|
norm larson
climber
wilson, wyoming
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 10:05am PT
|
The things I’ve brought back from climbing have helped me in every aspect of my life. Focus, sense of purpose, strength, flexibility and lasting meaningful friendships are just a few. It is a large part of who I am and why I want to be here.
|
|
cleo
Social climber
wherever you go, there you are
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 12:21pm PT
|
100% of people die.
I think the better question is: How do you want to live?
What's your balance between longevity and quality of life?
If you make different choices, are you going to be happy with them when you are very, very old? Or full of regrets?
|
|
TomCochrane
Trad climber
Cascade Mountains and Monterey Bay
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 03:25pm PT
|
It's fun, Libby! And risk management is all about attitude and awareness!
Saying it's fun is another way of describing our drive to expand human abilities, physically and spiritually, and however you philosophically gauge such things. You know more than most people about what is going on in other parts of the world, and why these things are so important.
My measure of acceptable/unavoidable risk is to not do anything more dangerous than driving on the freeway. It's a really bad idea to assume too much risk in order to bolster egos and improve standings in the pecking order....whether climbing or driving or anything else. You of all people don't need that, with all that you have been accomplishing!
In retrospect I can't even imagine how I survived some of the incidents in the early 1960s in Yosemite, and the community clearly didn't expect I would survive. The ego competition is why I formally dropped out of the Yosemite Rat Race in the late 1960s. My motivations for climbing were different. Royal never really forgave me for becoming an apostate to the rock climbing religion. Yet climbing still continues to be my principle sport for over 60 years. Even though so many of my partners, friends, and heroes are gone now, yet others are here daily on SuperTopo chatting about every topic under the sun. And most of my climbing has been done after I 'dropped out' of the Yosemite competition, much of it free solo and just for fun. And I made a commitment decades ago to not make the angels work so hard.
I am in awe before the accomplishments of your generation of climbers ... proving that limitations are bound only by the mind, and the mind is bound only by our perception of those limitations. I deeply wish for you all to live long happy lives.
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2017 - 04:09pm PT
|
hey there say, cleo... was 'paging you, as valerie' :)
say, i have your latest card, but do not have the envelope, :O
do you have a new address for here in usa... :)
i can try to email you from supertopo, but, i think folks say
that it does not work :(
EDIT:
GOT IT ... THANKS...
|
|
paganmonkeyboy
climber
mars...it's near nevada...
|
|
|
Nov 25, 2017 - 06:50am PT
|
Why do you have to justify anything to anyone ? Do *you* need it ?
|
|
JLP
Social climber
The internet
|
|
|
Nov 25, 2017 - 07:47am PT
|
Many people have died pursuing their personal goals of ultimate achievement. Mountain climbing is not unique in this regard.
Lots of friends who do Ironmans. It's [most of] their life and it seems like a healthy and good one.
At the finish line you get your time, and there it is in stone, and chances are you didn't just get the record. It's the most solid ego check ever, all that hard work, and there's your spot somewhere in the middle.
In climbing, and many other "sports" where people seem to die with higher regularity, the competition never gets resolved with such granularity and certainty. Hard work and talent can be shortcut by a willingness to take risks.
|
|
SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
|
|
|
Nov 25, 2017 - 08:41am PT
|
Many comments have focused on the two ends of the spectrum....live or die. Sentiments such dealing with “living full”, “died doing what they loved”, “take the risks, live your life”, “compelled to do this or I would be like a dead person”
We mourn with profound ache those that have passed and talk openly about our grief.
In more hushed tones we talk about those that took all the risks, lived life about as full and rich as possible, inspring others, and they didn’t die pushing the boundaries, but became so grievously injured they may never be whole again. These folks are fewer because, quite frankly, many high end climbers, adventurers, bikers, don’t survive their injuries.
What must it be like to be alive but in a way that defies every definition we have ever had of being alive? I’m sure we’ve all thought about it, but (at least for me) it’s pushed out of my mind almost upon conception of such a thought. I can much more comfortably conceive of my death, but a life altering injury makes me shake (even knowing I don’t have my “whole life in front of me”.
I think many of us take risks in our quest for adventure and typically measure it as an “either/or” proposition. Either we live or we die. And if something happens in the middle, well maybe some PT, maybe a cast, even some rods and pins. But there’s a no man’s land in that middle ground most of us don’t even want to contemplate. It’s a dark dark place and how do we embrace and lift up those that are there, hopefully for just awhile as we pray and hope for their wholeness?
Susan
|
|
jstan
climber
|
|
|
Nov 25, 2017 - 08:52am PT
|
Life gives one the ability to take in deep breaths of clean cool air and to have the muscles warmed by the demands being made of them.
Nothing else is needed.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!