Why do you climb walls?

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Messages 41 - 60 of total 73 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
pyro

Big Wall climber
Calabasas
Mar 18, 2008 - 03:37pm PT
it's bad enough to sleep in the ash pit of camp four.

getting a nite's rest up on the open stone is much more comfortable.

haven't done too many walls, but I can state that I have the book concept.

Norwegian

Trad climber
Placerville, California
Mar 18, 2008 - 03:51pm PT
modern domestic life is too padded. i speculate that as a species we need the stimulation afforded by challenge, fear and risk to be mentally and spiritually healthy. our society averts most discomforts at all tangible costs, though at considerable intagible costs. the walls are a sideways step in life where adversity is welcomed.

i threw up a thread a while ago about choosing hardship in order to live healthier; though some questioned my perspective,
it is one of the reasons i pursue the vertical.



http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?
topic_id=490922&msg=500547#msg500547
James

climber
a porch in Chinese Camp
Mar 18, 2008 - 04:21pm PT
The aesthetics, the beauty, the fear, the work, the partnership, and the enormity of it all.

Elaborate Klaus
clustiere

Trad climber
berkeley ca
Mar 18, 2008 - 04:41pm PT
With out knowing why we act unconciously. Seems like knowing why provides some freedom of choice in the whole matter of life decisions etc. Being concious beings often we have choice, why not explore that??
Offset

climber
slc
Mar 18, 2008 - 04:43pm PT
q: why do we climb walls?

a: to try and find out why we climb walls


Moof

Big Wall climber
A cube at my soul sucking job in Oregon
Mar 18, 2008 - 05:29pm PT
For perspective. Trouble is that once I have that perspective I can no longer relate to those that:

1. Won't eat any piece of meat with bones in it.

2. Won't eat chicken because of the texture.

3. Will only drink bottled water, and are picky about the brand.

4. Won't pee behind/in a bush.

5. Don't understand how to crap without a toilet (seriously.

6. Sport climb (though I often wonder why the opposite doesn't happen?).

7. Won't eat a banana with any sort of blemish on it.

8. Must have the latest wizbang cell phone.

Basically too many folks I run into have never truly tasted hunger, exhuastion, thirst, or true discomfort. Wall climbing is a huge contrivance to attain those, but it does remind you to keep your perspective just the same.

Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Jan 29, 2018 - 04:58pm PT
Just came across this quote from Mark Twain in "Roughing It." A funny and (maybe) insightful perspective I had not heard on the "Why We Climb" question. For context he is describing why he would take off on a 16-day carriage ride to Nevada in the late 1800's (before the railroad when that was a rare adventure).

"In a way we were the same sort of simpletons as those who climb unnecessarily the perilous peaks of Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, and derive no pleasure from it except the reflection that it isn't a common experience."
thebravecowboy

climber
The Good Places
Jan 29, 2018 - 05:59pm PT
Aint no wallrat but agree that the singularity and aloofy-ness linked inextricable with wall stuff allows for a singularity and a refuge pure and clean.
Human excommunication pales, confronted with the exposure and competence of self in the lone new challenge life
Wade Icey

Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
Jan 29, 2018 - 06:30pm PT
I hate wall climbing less than I hate being on flat ground.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jan 30, 2018 - 05:02am PT
Why do you climb walls?

'Cause it feels SOOOOO good when I stop.
Don Paul

Mountain climber
Denver CO
Jan 30, 2018 - 11:22am PT
To get to the top of course!
originalpmac

Mountain climber
Timbers of Fennario
Jan 30, 2018 - 11:27am PT

Because they are a fine place to drink beer.
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Jan 30, 2018 - 12:06pm PT
I did Mescalito for my first and last big wall. I was a total blast, except for the night after the seagull traverse. It was just getting dark and my partner, Rob Brown passed me the pipe. Without thinking I partook. I went full on paranoid. I remember thinking about reversing the traverse if we had to get off. My mind went somewhere like “God dammit Kris, WTF are you thinking being up here. You're 50 years old. You ought to be sitting in the Ahwahnee drinking white wine and eating salmon.” The next day the sun came up and up we went. I never said a word about my panic attack to Rob.

It was October and the first winter storm hit the day we got down. I remember us standing in the meadow with Bridwell watching a team of three doing a very competent job of backing off from above the shield roof. Anyway I did it for the experience. It was one of those things I knew I had to do, and the right opportunity presented itself. But I like free climbing a lot better.
Scole

Trad climber
Zapopan
Jan 30, 2018 - 02:35pm PT
According to common knowledge (as defined at Degnan's Deli), to justify an extended hang in the valley you must climb at least one pitch a day(on average). By climbing one wall a month it becomes much easier to maintain, or to exceed, the minimum daily requirement(M.D.R.) while still having sufficient time for chasing curry girls, swimming, canning and hanging at the deli
anita514

Gym climber
Great White North
Jan 30, 2018 - 04:44pm PT
What Mike said...

originalpmac

Mountain climber
Timbers of Fennario
Feb 2, 2018 - 01:25pm PT
That is one of the stangeset things I have ever seen. It is also hilarious.
Plaidman

Trad climber
West Slope of Powell Butte, Portland, Oregon, USA
Feb 2, 2018 - 02:23pm PT
Why?

Cause................. things and stuff. It’s complicated.

Plaid
gunsmoke

Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
Feb 2, 2018 - 06:54pm PT
Big wall climbing is something of a polar opposite to sport climbing. It's mentally committing, isn't fully in your control (weather, rockfall, etc.), and tests your resolve. I like sport climbing, although sport climbing has had no effect on who I am as a person. I embrace big wall climbing because big wall climbing has affected who I am as a person.
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Feb 2, 2018 - 08:22pm PT

Walls are sport climbs now.
gunsmoke

Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
Feb 2, 2018 - 08:36pm PT
Walls are sport climbs now.
Some walls.
Messages 41 - 60 of total 73 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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