TimmyC wrote:Alpinist wrote:Yeah but what I don't get is why the Chief has to shit on other people's accomplishments. What's the point of that? Or is he just trolling for a response?
Whatever...
Listen, I've had an AWESOME summer full of great climbs, many of which I've recorded here on SP in climber's logs. None of the peaks I've summitted this summer are much over 7000' and only one of them was an actual technical climb -- and that one weighed in at a monstrous 5.4ish. Would it devastate me if someone belittled my accomplishment? Hell no. I'm much too pleased with my return to health, with the fact that I can now climb not just a flight of stairs without wheezing and sweating but entire mountains (Baring!! w00t!!!), and with the fact that I'm living up to a promise I made to myself to not be a fat, diabetic, desk jockey anymore.
When one brings one's accomplishments out into public view -- especially when that view is the global newsmedia -- one stands to account for a lot of scrutiny, and varying amounts of that scrutiny is fair or pleasant. The global climbing community, as anyone who posts on SP's forums know with crystal clarity, is almost unbelievably demanding. Depending on how you Venn yourself, "demanding" is easily interchangeable with "shitty."
Egocentric assholes shit on French accomplishments.
Egocentric assholes shit on women's accomplishments.
Egocentric assholes shit on sporties' accomplishments.
Egocentric assholes shits on boulderers' accomplishments (but, like the mad monkeys they are, they throw the shit right back).
Did this lady actually summit? Who knows. But the very split second her accomplishment came into question, it became the climbing community's sacred right to start tearing her down. No one who climbs at that level can claim ignorance of this.
I have no problem with people challenging Oh's claim and tearing her down if she lied. However, the insults were directed at the accomplishment of being the first woman to climb the 8000m peaks, which at least one or both of the women have done. That is absolutely a worthy achievement and deserving of respect.Is it right? Is it fair? No, of course it isn't.
You'll notice I avoid wading into the dangerous waters of who gets more torn-down than whom, because, again, this is a subjective matter based on which demographic you choose as your own.
I read way more than I post here because entering the fray so rarely seems worth it ("Women in climbing," anyone?). But every now and again, there's a frickin'
gem of a response that needs me to say "hey, that was really great, thanks." If you graph out who posts on the forums against total membership, you'll find that a disproportionally small number of members make the VAST majority of posts. Much of it is spray, but, every now and again, there's gold, and it can't be found anywhere but buried in the lunatic rantings of rabid SP poster.
Alpinist, you know this. You post here enough to not be able to say something like "I had no idea The Chief was so full of bile and vitriol." Of course he is. He's the Chief. But for all the chest-beating and huffing and puffing he does, there is frickin' gold buried in that crazy brain, and through quiet observation of the forums, it can be teased out and we're all richer for it.
Brilliance and/or climbing like a God does not excuse poor behavior.Most of the time, I don't respond to threads like this one because of my severe brevity impairment (a disability I've lived with since I learned to speak) and an allergy to TLDR. But the rest of the time it's because I have nothing constructive to add, and pissing back at someone who's being intentionally shitty doesn't do anything except whip up a frenzy of unneeded anger at no one. As an unintended consequence of this new form of social interaction, many people these days use forums to work out personal issues that in previous generations would have remained buried or that would have required professional help. The Chief has been quite forward about some of the help he's receiving, and many here have supported him. To that end, while it's not my style, I have to at the very least agree with his intent in trying to work to become a better, more whole human being through his interactions here.
Is The Chief being a dick in this case? Yeah, clearly, but whatever. It'll never get back to Ms. Maybe-she-did-maybe-she-didn't. Don't let it bring you down. Go outside today, breathe some non-recycled air, revel in Nature's wonder, behold the majesty of our beautiful world, letting insignificant things like this fall away from you.
Me, down? I don't get down for such trivial reasons. Nor do I get riled EVER. I'm the most grounded guy you'll ever meet, virtually or in person. The Chief made some foolish comments and I called him on it. Nuf said. Plus, I mean really, The Chief climbs aid, and, as everyone knows, aid climbers are f#ckin' nuts, man.