when i rope up with a newbie it is on a climb that i am 100% i am not going to fall and or with a trusted third to watch the unknown climber. You have only your self to blame.

Great thread. I guess I have been lucky to only climb with people I already knew, which eliminates many of these surprises.

You wonder what constitutes a bad partner. The first kind is an unsafe partner. You cannot fuck around with these people. I have to admit that when I was young most of you would have considered me an idiot, doing things way over my head with little to no experience. Fortunately, most of my buddies were same way! In later years I have had to school some people, but luckily they have always listened to me. At least so far!

The second kind of bad partner is someone who, for whatever reason, you don't get along with. Depending on the nature of your differences, things can be worked out as you begin to accomodate each other. To take this to an extreme, how many girls have you taken climbing, or even camping? Almost all of them require significant changes to your trip that, if you weren't getting laid, would probably be dealbreakers. But you compromise and carry the heavy shit and wake her up with a fresh brewed espresso and suddenly she's more adventurous.

With guy partners I take the same attitude- we are in this together, whatever it takes to make a good trip I am willing to do. Short of the getting laid part!

GEM Trail wrote:To take this to an extreme, how many girls have you taken climbing, or even camping? Almost all of them require significant changes to your trip that, if you weren't getting laid, would probably be dealbreakers. But you compromise and carry the heavy shit and wake her up with a fresh brewed espresso and suddenly she's more adventurous.

Wow, all this time, I never knew a) I was putting a serious crimp in the climbing plans of my guy climbing partners, completely ruining their weekends, esp. because there was no sex involved and b) that they were supposed to carry my gear and brew espresso for me.

Thanks for the enlightenment!

GEM Trail wrote:To take this to an extreme, how many girls have you taken climbing, or even camping? Almost all of them require significant changes to your trip that, if you weren't getting laid, would probably be dealbreakers. But you compromise and carry the heavy shit and wake her up with a fresh brewed espresso and suddenly she's more adventurous.

With guy partners I take the same attitude- we are in this together, whatever it takes to make a good trip I am willing to do. Short of the getting laid part!

Really?

Unless this was just a poor attempt at being funny, all I can say is "Yuck!".

GEM, speaking of getting laid, you just laid an egg with your post.

Marmaduke wrote:GEM, speaking of getting laid, you just laid an egg with your post.

I wouldn't mind finding some women climbing partners, but I ain't hauling an espresso maker up the mountain, no sir!

GEM Trail wrote:With guy partners I take the same attitude- we are in this together, whatever it takes to make a good trip I am willing to do. Short of the getting laid part!

what if they hauled a coffee maker for you?

Woodie Hopper wrote:

GEM Trail wrote:To take this to an extreme, how many girls have you taken climbing, or even camping? Almost all of them require significant changes to your trip that, if you weren't getting laid, would probably be dealbreakers. But you compromise and carry the heavy shit and wake her up with a fresh brewed espresso and suddenly she's more adventurous.

With guy partners I take the same attitude- we are in this together, whatever it takes to make a good trip I am willing to do. Short of the getting laid part!

Really?

Unless this was just a poor attempt at being funny, all I can say is "Yuck!".

"yuck!"-my sentiments exactly.

My first post, and relevant to a recent experience...

Was the beneficiary of a lucky trail meetup and subsequent climbing partnership (for a day) on Mount Abbott at the end of June.

Had planned to solo the NE Couloir route and shared some trail beta with a solo climber during an acclimatization hike, she had planned on tackling Mt. Starr the next day.

Long story short, we teamed up for Mount Abbott, everything clicked, we had a blast on a great day, in a great location and will always remember how a chance meeting can turn into a great adventure.

Part of our initial discussion for this climb included the, "we must respect each other's level of comfort and safety and if something doesn't feel right, we need to talk about it, ego-free."

When we hit the top of the ridge late that afternoon and got blasted by the wind (50+ mph) on the knife-edge, that earlier conversation made turning back a whole lot easier.

As a result of our turning back, the glissade down the couloir was PERFECTLY timed; in a couple of more hours, it might have been quite icy.

Pics and trip report to follow.

Full disclaimer: we both related to each other later, how, when we first met, there was an instant of "I feel like I've known this person for years" and our conversation of teaming up was a result of this mutual feeling. If my gut had said no, I wouldn't have even mentioned my plans.

Summary: if your instincts say no, it's probably wise to listen. The opposite can also be true, so go with an open mind.

MK

GEM Trail wrote:
To take this to an extreme, how many girls have you taken climbing, or even camping? Almost all of them require significant changes to your trip that, if you weren't getting laid, would probably be dealbreakers. But you compromise and carry the heavy shit and wake her up with a fresh brewed espresso and suddenly she's more adventurous.

Are you one of those guys who will carry all of the heavy shit? Because I'd like to sign up for that trip.

Jesus, what a pussy.

Wow... don't take a crack at the weaker sex 'round hur, eh?

Daria wrote:

Woodie Hopper wrote:"yuck!"-my sentiments exactly.

Yuck...black light? Lol

But seriously, I think some of you are taking GEM Trail a bit too literally. It's an "extreme" comparison (said it in the post too) about compromise.

This reminds me of this random friend of a friend getting bent about me using the word 'chick' last month and proceeded with subtle personal insults. Apparently it is objectifying and offensive. Chill out, Christ...

Don't know who you are (I'm sure a current SPer with another account) and I don't know Daria but taking cheap shots at her for a personal thing you have in an open forum shows your level of class. Just my opinion, we all had seen a lot of this some time back, was nice had ended.

The Elves will take care of that Daria, he using an another avatar, expose him.

Oddly, it was all pretty much on subject. Sacramento does strange things to people.