I am writing this after giving a lots of thoughts to the way we get in contact with potential partners and the level of expertise we comunicate to them in order to climb with them. I felt that I wanted to write this also after an exchange of e-mail I had with a guy I met a couple of years ago and with whom I went ice climbing one time in Catskill and a few times in the gym.
When we first met he made a lot of noise about big expeditions in remote areas and alpine climbing, therefore I understood that he had enough climbing experience not only to climb outside but also to lead some stuff.
We started the day with a solid WI4 and after leading it I asked him to follow me instead of top roping because I wanted to show him the top of the other climbs around and the descent route.
To my surprise he had a lot trouble following, leaving even a screw behind and when he got to the belay he had a hard time anchoring himslef and giving me the gear. The excuse he gave me, was that it was the first time ice climbing in two months and that he had to get re-aquainted with the whole thing....
Later that day I asked him if he wanted to lead something but he refused even in front of a WI2...than he revealed that i had never led something before....
After that day he asked me to go out climbing again several times, but I put it off until another time the next year, this time we where a team of 3 and I felt more confortable having this guy with me (The story though was the same...with him talking the whole day about big expeditions in India and not doing much else...), other than this we only climbed toghether at the gym.
While climbing at the gym I got to know the guy a little better, and I got a good feeling about the person but a terribile feeling about the climber…He went out climbing in famous places several times during the year (Black Canion; Bougaboos; Cody, Wyoming; Boulder, CO) always with guides and always with a superstar guide (Vince Anderson, Steve House, to name some of them…)
I kept asking him if he had starter leading, or if he had a chance to learn gear placements, self rescue, or other necessary trick for climbing during these trips, but he said he just climbed….
Now a more than a year has passed since the last time I saw him, and I got an e-mail from him telling me that he was coming to Geneva for a few days and he wanted to go alpine climbing with me or, he asked, if I was not available if I could suggest somebody to climb with him.
I replied that I was not available that week since I am at the seaside…but I also replied that I could only hook him up with people if he could lead and take care of himself on the mountain because alpine climbing is not like roadside climbing…No response from his side…
Recently I saw the pictures he published on Facebook about the climbs he did with a guide in Chamonix that week he was around Geneva…
All this bring me back to a discussion I had with SP’r WouterB about the possibility of rating partners on Summitpost, in order to have a system the help us taking the right decision about climbing with a new partner…
What do you think?