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BPorter
Big Wall climber
Quartz Hill, Ca
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Nov 19, 2006 - 03:38pm PT
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Ed,
Trip reports are the reason why I put up with the other BS on this site. Honest, sincere reflections on climbs you have completed, or not completed, is what I truly enjoy. Your trip repots are the best! Please continue regardless of what you percieve as the response from the ST community. If you don't, this site will degenerate into a real "Putzfest"!!!
Thanks
Cracko
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Nov 19, 2006 - 04:44pm PT
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And yet, and yet...Ed's trip report got about seventeen responses in twice the time it tooks his report on trip reports to get almost four times as many. If, as some have said, we like talking about climbing as much as climbing, than do we also like talking about talking about climbing better as much as talking about climbing?
I wonder if, for some reason, trip reports induce an unaccustomed civility that actually restricts others to laudatory comments on the original post. Perhaps the knowledge that the reporter invested real time and effort in their report, rather than, say, reeling it off in a drunken stupor, stimulates a respectful reticence in readers.
I'm not suggesting that the apparently shuttered Gates of Flame should be opened for TR's, but surely we might interact with the orginal post in various ways that take nothing from the original work and yet build on it, rather than just praising it. Or is there an unstated agreement that the OP should remain the center of attention?
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 7, 2008 - 10:58pm PT
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for those of you who never saw this cartoon
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Yo Ed, I'll address your original question -- I for one really do like TRs in general and yours in particular, and find them much more engaging than the half-baked political opining that occupies most of ST's bandwidth these days. I read articles every day in magazines, newspapers and online that have better-informed and more articulate political discussions, from which I learn much -- but those other sources don't know anything about climbing.
F'rinstance the Ski Jump report, which you recently drew attention to -- that's a formation I always looked at and admired during my early days in the Valley, and read what little the red book had to say about it, but like most other routes I never got round to climbing it -- and would never have heard about it again, except for this forum. Cool to see it here.
But you're right too, it's hard for most of us to post something responsive (that doesn't just sound lame) about a route we haven't done, so TR authors get less reinforcement than authors of some much emptier posts.
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LuckyPink
climber
the last bivy
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VIEW COUNTER!!! lots of other forums use them..tracks interest
just a bump for this idea posted by Dave upthread
I'm a big FAn of trip reports! read almost all.. Porcelain Wall was a huge winner
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Nohea
Trad climber
Aiea,Hi
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Hell I am in. TR's rock. I live in the middle of the sea. I love the 30 days a year I get waking up and seeing mountains.
It is like the difference between eating fried food or eating sushi.
After eating fried food and replying to some OT thread I feel greasy.
After eating Sushi and replying to a TR "Beautiful climb you guys" I feel clean and eager to climb.
Aloha,
wil
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nutjob
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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I've always enjoyed writing, but basically felt no motivation or outlet for the ~15 years between leaving high school and starting to post up here. I do have a fantasy of being able to find my TRs here someday and use it as a form of diary... I'm too lazy for a real diary or even a personal blog just for my own viewership.
I was more or less self-taught and socially unconnected when I got into climbing (well, I tapped my normal friend circles and dragged them into it, with me being slightly less ignorant than they), so had no sense of climbing history or lore, and frankly no interest in it. Over the last few years because of supertopo, that appreciation has grown in me as a result of reading so many stories and trip reports. I used to see climbing as something to be enjoyed in the moment and then gone, and I eschewed climbing magazines the same way I avoid watching sports on TV. Now I consider it more like a lifestyle thing, a virtual culture and social circle, enriching my life beyond the limited time I have on the rock. I feel connected to something greater than myself, and isn't that something we all enjoy?
And, I'm crossing a cool threshold where the relationships and community formed in this virtual world are having a tangible impact on my real-life climbing opportunities and extensions of my real-life social circles. Just amazing to see the societal and cultural evolution that the Internet enables. How else could I find so many offwidth freaks? Just statistically improbable.
In terms of TRs and stories... I love reading 'em. The most frequency of laughing in my life is from reading stuff here, whether it's a funny TR or just a classic one-liner in the midst of a ho-hum exchange. Sometimes I catch myself snickering and snorting too loudly in my little work cubicle.
I was strongly motivated first by reading Largo's stories in his Climbing Anchors book, BIMD (back in my day) mid 90s Joshua Tree. Reading about Tobin Sorenson's screamer falls was about the funniest damn thing I ever read and definitely sparked something in me to want to write more. And before I got hooked into this forum thing, I'd occasionally run across a Dingus Milktoast writeup that also served as a sort of template for my future emulation. So wanted to throw out those props and say thanks guys for writing funny stuff that also touches on some element of humanity with which we can all identify.
And since I've become hooked on supertopo, it's just a continual joy to find TR gems from wherever and whomever, read the stories and banter...
Edit: maybe I should have just written "yes Ed we like Trip Reports!" Naw, I'm a spewer and I'll embrace my spewing nature.
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Just say "kudos." its honest, and it gives it a bump :D
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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I was just reminded of an ill fated climb last spring with some poor East Coast guy. I told him I wanted to climb at Pat'n'Jacks. The weather was going from bad to worse but I still racked up and started climbing. The higher I went on Knob Job, the mistier it got. Then it started raining.
So I lowered off and went back up with a second rope, and penjied over to Knurdle. I got to the bolts and set a belay and sat in the tree. As my partner was climbing up in the rain I started yelling. I was covered in ants and getting eaten. He was worried I was going to drop him. And the rock was really treacherous at that point.
We both made it to the top with all the gear recovered. We rapped off and grabbed our packs and ran to our cars. We were completely drenched and cold. Still, it was a good day...
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rockermike
Mountain climber
Berkeley
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"Execute Bush and Cheney?" damn, how did I miss that one. ha
I like TRs but rarely respond. Keep it up yo'all. My own trips are too lame to post. ha
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Supertopo was conceived as a way to disseminate beta. One of the things that bugs me about the Route Beta section is that you can't post or glean beta about a route that hasn't been 'Supertopoed' I think trip reports, even historic ones contain a wealth of beta-ants, snow on the approach, loose block, stay right, don't mix grain and grape, etc- and change the way some of us approach climbing.
I don't climb enough these days to worry too much about tainting the onsight. I'd rather minimize my commute and approach, show up with the right gear, maximize my crag time and know which snow bank to stash the beer in.
I've looked up at Elevator Shaft hundreds of times with nothing but contempt and revulsion. Reading your report Ed, I was feeling same until I came across a line about belaying in the sun. I scrolled back to top reread the post and now it's on my hit list (when is it scheduled to be dry, Ed?).
Thanks, nice TR.
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TKingsbury
Trad climber
MT
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Mar 19, 2009 - 04:38pm PT
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bump
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Mar 19, 2009 - 05:13pm PT
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Bump from an occasional TR writer who likes to share and see others' climbing photos and stories.
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Double D
climber
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Mar 19, 2009 - 05:48pm PT
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TR… We went climbing yesterday after work as we often do on flex Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays or any other day that we can finagle our way out into the vertical wilderness.
I just happened to lead first, pull the ropes through, rap partially down with my camera, wait for the right lighting and catch this shot of my friend Jared.
Living on the Edge Snow Canyon UT climber Jared Lott
We also did same thing last week. By sheer coincidence I decided to rap down this route with my camera and wait for just the right lighting to catch another surprised climber.
Petting the Pussycat Cougar Cliffs UT
Strange coincidence?... You decide.
(-;
I do enjoy TR’s though so keep posting ‘em up!
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Mar 19, 2009 - 05:59pm PT
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Hey Double D, I love a shot with both the climber and the belayer in them, something that tells the story of the connection and dynamic between the two, so that second one is a real winner. Great light on the first too.
Oh, and it seems like across the spectrum of climbing websites, TR's are pretty much the #1 thing people appreciate, though for me, the best thing about the Taco is the first hand reports of historic ascents by the folks who did them. That kind of living history stuff just isn't found anywhere else in anything like the quality and variety displayed here.
Politics and squabbling is seriously overstocked on the interweb, so I've got no patience for it on ST.
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Mar 19, 2009 - 06:00pm PT
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Love the rock especially in that first photo - I can *feel* it just by looking at your photos! Cool. Thanks.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Mar 19, 2009 - 06:15pm PT
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The thing is, TR's are a different genre of post from those that involve discussion or contention. They will never be able to compete in an environment in which visibility is governed by number of responses, and on Super Topo, where the scroll rate is so ridiculous, there's a decent chance that a TR, which is surely a core element in the site's raison d'etre, will disappear to the back pages before a significant number of viewers even have a chance to decide whether or not to read it.
Admonishments to users of the forum will never provide a solution to what is clearly a structural problem. With regard to this, I think Chris ultimately will have to come to terms with the fact that the site is what it is, not what it is intended to be, and without appropriate structuring, its core mission, as embodied in the very title, will suffer progressive dilution.
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Double D
climber
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Mar 20, 2009 - 01:52pm PT
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Back to Ed's original point, TR may not get a lot of comments (I usually don't) but are way more entertaining that the political and ethical debates...well at least if they have pictures.
While I also like reading about the history of significant climbs most often my favorite tr's are nubee tales 'cause the experience is fresh and they are relating something that each of us had gone through but forgotten.
Just my $.02's.
PS Thanks for the compliments Crimpie and Off White. I've enjoyed shooting on the stone again and love to see others stuff around here...even if there are tons of "butt" shots to wade through.
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hooblie
climber
from where the anecdotes roam
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digging through the stacks
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Nov 28, 2011 - 10:08pm PT
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Double bump
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