What have you given up for climbing?

by **Alpinisto** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 1:03 pm

Trad rack: $1,500
Lack of a downpayment for a house: $30,000
Lifetime earnings foregone by not being on the "fast track" at the office: $160,000

Time in the mountains: priceless

by **The Chief** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 2:03 pm

Alpinisto wrote:Time in the mountains: priceless

by **John Duffield** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 2:03 pm

Fletch wrote:Mike - don't think this much. You're giving me a headache. You just need a pep-talk. Have you been drinking?

Guyzo wrote:How about "the cost of climbing" ........ I have never given up anything.

But the cost to me has been:

Lost/failed relationships.

My loving parents considered me a "bum" ...... until lately.

10 years behind my peers at work.

I could go on, but why.

mvs you should ask this one:

What are the rewards of climbing?

+ 1

I've been doing crazy shit all over the world for a long time. I think of it collectively as "The Ride". Once you start making decisions in your life - employment, relationships etc - by viewing them through the prism of the ride, you'll find yourself making the decisions as to what is good for the ride. So you probably won't die rich. You might not have children.

If having friends, kids, a nice job, is important to you, you'll find yourself at Birthday parties when your ass is itching to be somewhere else.

Maybe you don't need any friends. Or only friends that help you keep climbing. Employment? I realized early on, that the ride demanded I not work for someone else. You might find that to keep climbing, you're better off as the head of a chicken rather than the tail of a lion. So as above, you'll be years behind career-wise.

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atavist, Guyzo, kamil

by **PAROFES** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 2:11 pm

Ah you know, the same as a lot of folks here...
I gave up jobs 3 times already. The first two for backpacking and the last one in dec 2009 for a climbing expedition which was supposed to be 120 days long, but it lasted until 70 days only.
That one hit me hard and i still don't have a new job since then...11 months already, and it was a great job. I was a financial supervisor for a binacional company (Can, Bra).
So...i don't care very much...after all, stuff is just stuff...you can always sell stuff if you need to eat.
I'm running out of stuffs to sell but....what a hell, i'm gonna climb more...ahahahhah...
As Valeria (Conan's lover) used to say: "Do you wanna live forever?!"

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anita, kamil

by **Guyzo** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 3:08 pm

John, you hit the nail.

I feel sorry for a lot of the people I meet.

Folks who think a big weekend is hitting the beach and a fish restaurant afterwords.

Folks who have no idea just what it can be like in the mountains.

Who have no idea of how wonderful it is to watch the sun rise, to get that hand jam that works, to stand on those dime edges.

Climbing is a way of life and most people miss out on the life thing anyway.

I must stop now .... gotta get to work.

GK

by **John Duffield** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 4:29 pm

charles wrote:I don´t think I have given up anything for climbing. It´s helped form me as a person but I can´t remember coming to any cross roads with signposts to climbing or other ports of call.

Now, now, Charles.

How can that be true? You may have given more than most. About 6 months of normal life? The running? Is the "pot" still on?

by **MoapaPk** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:35 pm

Perhaps your life would have angst-ridden forks in the road, irrespective of climbing.

You could choose to continue as a programmer or engineer, rather than vie for management.

You could choose to stay a carpenter, rather than follow the high-pressure opportunity to become head of a contracting company.

You could marry that exciting woman you met at the bar, rather than a calmer good friend, and end up in a nasty, gut-wrenching divorce.
---
My Dad, rest his soul, stayed a salesman for most of his post-WWII career. He liked interacting with people, developing bonds, determining his schedule. Many times he was pressured to go into management, and he always resisted, and as a consequence got a lower salary. However, as kids we always had real vacations.

Later on, when he looked at the people who accepted the management carrot, the track record was not that good; most were alcoholics or died early from heart attacks and the like.

by **DANNYC** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:49 pm

It's a constant balancing act for everyone to try and juggle family, work, and climbing. I always feel like I come up short in at least one area.

Summitpost & the internet are awesome but they are just a tool. You can have a great climbing life without them. Good luck.

by **welle** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:28 pm

zodis wrote:It's a hobby.

respectfully disagree. knitting is a hobby.

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John Duffield, ksolem

by **JasonH** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:50 pm

Opinions are like.......

by **ksolem** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:48 am

This is funny!

First off I think y'all didn't get Guy's post. Knowing him as I do I totally see his meaning. He didn't say "Folks who enjoy a day at the beach and a fish restaurant..."

Speaking for myself I don't see anything I have traded off for a lifetime of great times climbing as "giving up" anything. Other will feel differently. The things I did not do out of choice included having kids, a totally demanding career, achieving social status, buying lots of new cars, being lazy. All of these choices were good ones for me. Of course it is all individual, for example I cannot see why one would choose climbing - with it's risk and discomfort - as a hobby. To each their own.

Cheers!

by **Daria** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:46 am

I gave up my soul............*evil laughter ensues*

by **Charles** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 9:12 am

welle wrote:
zodis wrote:It's a hobby.

respectfully disagree. knitting is a hobby.

Don´t knock knitting. Try boarding a plane and telling the security "But that´s just my knitting!!".

by **builttospill** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:38 am

mvs,

I don't know anything about the second part of your post, with regard to what's been happening on SP. I've made myself scarce over the last few months, but not because of SP itself--just life.

But the first part of your post resonated with me. I've often had similar thoughts. Usually they have been the opposite direction though: what kind of adventure have I given up by choosing a slightly more comfortable job? Or by going back to school? Or by settling down with my girlfriend? I sometimes wonder about what I've given up in favor of climbing, but less now because the pendulum has swung far away from climbing and adventure to the other side....

It's obvious from the responses that a lot of people don't think this way. I've written posts eerily similar to your's in the past, both here and elsewhere. It's not as common a viewpoint as I always thought. But for people who think in the way I do (and the way I think you do), it's hard not to second-guess decisions, to look back and wonder "what if?" I know it's not healthy for me, and I wish I wouldn't do it and I know I'd be happier if I didn't, but it's me. It was my Dad too, and I see him in the mirror more and more each day. I don't say that in a good way.

But, in any event, just wanted to say that some people out there hear you--or at least hear what they want to hear from you. Hopefully it's a passing phase, but sometimes a reevaluation is a good thing. I also think listening to some of the "grab life and don't look back" folks here sometimes is good. It's gotten me out into the mountains in the past, and that's always been good for me. I'm sure the same is true for you.

Good luck.

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mvs

by **John Duffield** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:48 pm

knoback wrote:
Fletch wrote:
Guyzo wrote:I feel sorry for a lot of the people I meet.

Folks who think a big weekend is hitting the beach and a fish restaurant afterwords.

Im going to play devil's advocate here, but so what? Not everyone was meant to be in the mountains. Big effin' deal. Hitting the beach and a fish restaurant is a nice weekend. Doesn't matter if you're a climber or not. The mountains are great, but so are fish restaurants. It's all in your perspective. The folks in the restaurant feel sorry for you.

I enjoy the mountains and love them very much, but im not going to consider myself "better" because I have figured out what I like. Life is full of experiences and you can have a rich, full, and wonderful life without ever stepping foot in the mountains. We shouldn't look down our nose at people we think "don't get it."

In fact we shouldn't look down our noses at anyone.

Nah, fck those fiskbudin guys. More like 'render unto Ceasar..' than 'to each his own..'. Not to be hateful, but they are the weak. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Yes. I'm good with this. They've never felt the exhilaration of standing in the night at 6000 meters watching the Space Station tumble across the sky. They'd just feel cold. Or clinging to a vertical wall in the rain with your future literally in your hands. They'd just be scared.

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