I don't disagree with the OP or anyone else when it comes to arrogant behavior. I just don't run into it much among climbers, although it certainly stands out when I do, so I'm not sure why it is such a big issue here.

On the other hand the topic must interest me enough to take part in the conversation.

And I will freely admit that having breakfast buffet at Curry after climbing El Cap, the fat tourists did not impress me...

One afternoon I was hanging out in El Cap meadow. Some Dad with his family was within earshot, and he pronounced to them "You know, those climbers are really just a bunch of dirtballs, but you still have to admire what they do..." I thought he about nailed it.

So, welcome to SP and congrats on your choice to head for the peaks...

Hmm.

On the one hand people don't really get to me much unless they are boneheads to the extreme.

On the other hand the Rock did re arrange my life. Totally.

The rock/mountain/peak and the human are two different things. I don't allow arrogant asshole people get to me at all. If I'm at some type of social function and this type of person is part of a conversation, at some point I find others to converse with. I won't stay there and listen to some egotistical ass, they normally have no interst in what you are saying so......why give them the time of day? I've played baseball for many years, at a descent level. I've had teammate like this and in going to get beers after games have had many times they've been part of the social structure. I merely put up with their BS for that time but would I ever ask them to go play a round of golf. And I have never met you Squishy, at some point I'm sure I will as I'm in the North Bay. I've read a lot of posts in various threads from you. I'd bet your not not an arrogant asshole, maybe a sarcastic asshole? I can be one of the best of dishing it out and I can take but it's all in being sarcast and having some fun. Cheers!

Blakeman- I think your missing the point. I will never climb one of those walls you are talking about. But you can have to people who do climb them, at the end of the day if climber "Joe" is thumping his chest, telling anyone who will listen what a great and skilled climber he is And the guy who is climbing class 2 and 3 routes is nothing more than a peon. And then climber "Bill" is saying what a great climb it was and the interesting difficulties he encountered, the people he met at the top and then wants to know about my measly class 2/3 scramble..................well 100% of the time Ill listen to and talk to Bill and screw Joe. That's just me though.

Neophiteat48 wrote:I will never climb one of those walls you are talking about.

You would not believe how many of us have said that

One thing I like about climbing, in all its forms, is how much there is to learn. You need to be open to new things, and new ways of thinking.

I like people who want to learn, to grow, to expand their knowledge. I don't like people who boast about themselves and idly talk about what they will accomplish in the future. These people are full of themselves, no matter what they climb or hike or do in life. Projecting it onto others (technical climbers for example) makes it even worse.

The future is not set, and as humans we have a pretty poor record of predicting the future

Yea- that's pretty funny, I will not screw Joe!

Well RHYang, you're right to a point. When I started looking into mountains to climb, I was looking at class 2 routes only. Then I saw some photos of a class 3 and the description, so I said I can handle that. Just yesterday I saw a photo of what was called a class 4 and I've read the description of a 4 and now think that some class 4 might be in my future. But I'm very certain it will end at that but like you said, we really can't predict the future.

Neophiteat48 wrote:Well RHYang, you're right to a point. When I started looking into mountains to climb, I was looking at class 2 routes only. Then I saw some photos of a class 3 and the description, so I said I can handle that. Just yesterday I saw a photo of what was called a class 4 and I've read the description of a 4 and now think that some class 4 might be in my future. But I'm very certain it will end at that but like you said, we really can't predict the future.

No, you must stop now. Class 2 is a gateway drug. It leads to class 3 which leads to class 4 which leads to...???. The addiction can be serious

Thanks Dave for the warning, the same thing happen to me with beer. I said I'll only have 2, then it became 3 then 4........................and oh well.

I remember being back in Camp 4 in the 1970s.....

We saw some of our "heros" there (names witheld to protect the old and decrepit) and decided to walk over and say hello.

It was the coldest shoulder I've ever gotten, even worse than the time I hit on some princess at the $10,000 blackjack table in Monaco.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:I remember being back in Camp 4 in the 1970s.....

We saw some of our "heros" there (names witheld to protect the old and decrepit) and decided to walk over and say hello.

It was the coldest shoulder I've ever gotten, even worse than the time I hit on some princess at the $10,000 blackjack table in Monaco.

Well, you probably shouldn't've put your hand on Bachar's leg like that...

I think Ksolem had pretty much the definitive word on this a few pages back ... people can be assholes regardless of acheivement.

The strange thing is, climbing is still a bit of an outsider activity. Getting less so, but still ... and (I think) as a result I meet more people in the climbing world who are down-to-earth, friendly and willing to sit and shoot the shit without reference to their acomplishements than in other areas of my life. Hell, I work with assholes who have never done one damn impressive thing in their life.

BeDrinkable wrote:I think Ksolem had pretty much the definitive word on this a few pages back ... people can be assholes regardless of acheivement.

The strange thing is, climbing is still a bit of an outsider activity. Getting less so, but still ... and (I think) as a result I meet more people in the climbing world who are down-to-earth, friendly and willing to sit and shoot the shit without reference to their acomplishements than in other areas of my life. Hell, I work with assholes who have never done one damn impressive thing in their life.

And climbing is impressive? I fiugure climbing is a useless activity which doesn't affect anything in the world, except for how it changes peoples lives, and their perception of the world around them.