I need a college to go to, and location is everything to me, what's the climbing like? I'm thinking of checking out UC Merced. I see that Yosemite is only 2 hours away!!! but is there cragging close by? like after class/work close? kayaking nearby would be a major plus too. Thanks.

I want to be a guide (maybe) mostly I want to live out of my car and climb all the time but my parents say I won't amount to anything doing this, I say bullshit, I'll climb a lot.
anyway, I want to check schools.

others I'm looking at are Quest up in squamish, and western in washington. it'd be way cheaper (and more productive) to just live out of a car and bum all the time though!

kiwiw wrote:...it'd be way cheaper (and more productive) to just live out of a car and bum all the time though!

Why don't you try it for a year or two and see how it goes? Of course, you'll need money for gas, food, car insurance, vehicle maintenance, gear replacement...

...oh, and health insurance...or you can scrap this and hope you never hurt yourself climbing full-time.

Of course, your limited income will probably restrict you to climbing fairly locally. Unless you save up your minimum-wage dollars and spend a couple days driving in your poorly maintained beater car/van that will likely break down half-way there, costing you most of the money you saved for the trip.

Think about it, man. Living off the coins in your pocket might get old pretty quick. Poke around on this site and get feel for the educational level and career choices of the people who get out climbing a lot. Guiding is an option, but ask yourself if you really have the skills to even pursue this yet. There are plenty of options out there that will provide you with ample opportunites for climbing...and more than a pittance to live off of.

And there are plenty of colleges within minutes of world-class climbing...seems like a no-brainer to me.

I dunno, I really hate school, like it sucks a unbeliveable amount. at college I wouldn't learn anything, I'd spend all my time getting smashed and/or skipping class to climb. seems like I could streamline my time by taking the 20k a year education out of the equation.

Living out of your car at 19 isn't a big deal. If you hate school now take time off and mull over life rather than piss it away in college.

There is no legal bouldering near the college. You have to drive at least a half hour to get to any kind of rock worth pawing on.

But you would be 90 minutes from the parking turnout below the Cathedral Rocks on the Valley floor. Plus you would surely have summer employment options, could possibly start your guiding 'career', get hooked into YOSAR, and if nothing else build up some climbing relationships that could last you a lifetime.

Merced is a permanently depressed Valley town. Its not a shithole but to many it might seem that way. High seasonal unemployment. Its an ex-Air Force base town, so that combined with its farm history it had its share of low income folks living there.

Nowadays the base is long closed and the college has not taken off in terms of employment.

It gets quite hot there in summer - 30 days or more at or above 100, with many many more in the mid to high 90s. Winters can be foggy and dreary.

But you would be 90 minutes dude, 90 minutes from the pullout at Cathedral Rocks, closer still for the lower Merced Canyon.....

DMT

If your not into college, don't go. You will fart it away.

I wish I could recall the lecture Mark Powell would give his Geography 101 class after the midterm....

In short, he tells a tale of his life, Paying to graduate from some HS in Fresno with a d- GPA.... discovering rockclimbing, being called "to fat to ever amount to being a climber".... working on a trail crew and dumping 100+ lbs.... Living in the Valley, becoming a climber of some note, doing worldclass cutting edge climbing, having a life altering injury.... after 12 years of bumming he had a desire to go to college.... to become a teacher (so he could climb and have summers). When he went to school he focused on it with the same effort he put into climbing, and earned a degree, and a 3.5 average. .... so in short, "dont take up my valuable time holding down that seat, if you want to be at the beach please go, come back when your ready."

So go get a PHD in "fingercracks" ......

Guyzo's right. If you aren't ready, don't go. And it sounds like you're not ready. And when you do go, go someplace that has good academics, not good climbing.

Someone posted a similar thread on Supertopo and Werner, that master of understatement, put it best: "Why do you want to go to school to study climbing?"

You're going to be around another 60 yrs. or so and if your job sucks, your life will probably suck too. I have a good standard of living. I'm able to give my family everything they need and I don't get an ulcer wondering where I'm going to get the money to buy new tires for the Subaru. The reason for that is, unlike alot of my early climbing friends--all of whom fell off the face of the earth-- I decided early on that education came first but I'd still make the time to climb, which I did.

The world of human knowledge is way more fascinating than the world of climbing. Plus you'll never have that much time in your life again to learn a new language, read Shakespeare or Chaucer, learn about the Reformation, etc., etc. Don't waste your time or money just spinning your wheels unless you're ready to dig in.

kiwiw wrote:I want to be a guide (maybe) mostly I want to live out of my car and climb all the time

Free advice? If you're smart enough to gain acceptance at a UC school, then you won't be too happy sitting there in your car, eating yet another can of cold Dinty Moore Beef Stew and staring at the rain. The people who do that can be pretty tough characters...and they may not take young boys who are college material too seriously. This living in a car business and eating out of dumpsters is not being realistic. You'll spend all your time just trying to survive, and NOT climbing.

If you're bored or don't have the attention span to sit in a college classroom, why not learn some sort of trade, become a contractor or remove asbestos or whatever. Better to hammer nails outdoors than to be a minimum wage hot supply in some stinking cafeteria. You could work a few weeks and then go climb a few weeks. The guys I met who did tough El Cap nailing routes all seemed to be building condos, or spreading hot tar on roofs in the 110 degree summer heat. Tough dudes!

Just out of curiosity, I wonder what your climbing skills are. It seems to be a certified guide these days they want plenty of big wall experience, the ability to lead difficult ice and the ability to lead 5.11 or 5.12 cracks...not to just clip 5.13 sport bolts.

Best advice? Maybe major in something that will give you an outdoor career in the mountains or Natl Parks. Maybe that will keep you interested in your studies. But forget the dumpster diving.

~~steve

squishy wrote:

A picture is worth a thousand words...

One evening I walked right past Mr. T at the Smith's Food King in West Los Angeles, circa 1980s. He was pushing his grocery cart down the aisle there, glaring hatred at all of his fellow supermarket shoppers.

If a guy was living in a van down by the river, Mr T would probably yank him outta that van and give him a good fatherly shaking...

Steve1215 wrote:If a guy was living in a van down by the river, Mr T would probably yank him outta that van and give him a good fatherly shaking...

maybe it woulda helped!

You have to find the balance between what you want now and what you will want later in life. Living in your backseat gnawing fake beef jerky and chugging stale beer may seem like livin' the dream but that loaf of bread can get pretty stale fast - especially when your shaking a tin can to pay for dinner, gas, or car repairs. We all have to do stuff that sucks, thats life. Go ahead and play but don't forget to plan too.

Head for UCB. Cool studies, register archives, rocks close by, and the beautiful Oakland Hills (yet unburned). You can live cheap, plenty of other panhandlers if that's your drift. Cool jobs, exotic arrays of food and culture, certainly not a cow town. You can easily get by without a polluting car, only an hour from any part of SF by BART.

Your degree will be valuated more highly, not some idiots who obediently obey whatever dictum (as MLC SC), you will be able to think for yourself, not what right wing politicians dream up for you. Plenty of laureates close by.

If UC Merced is anything like Sac State, you have to ask yourself. Is my money worth this? Feeble minded faculty and similar student body. Quick to hate whatever they're told, and do as your peers do, however hateful or illegal. Lots of geniuses at UC, morons at CSUS.

1000Pks wrote:Your degree will be valuated more highly, not some idiots who obediently obey whatever dictum (as MLC SC), you will be able to think for yourself, not what right wing politicians dream up for you.

Are you saying the MLC SC is run by right wing politicians?

Michael Savage has several degrees from UC Berkeley. Genius?