SummitPost.org

Daria wrote:And I am one of the most reclusive, and quiet individuals there ever existed, fyi.

hmm.... wouldn't have guessed that

Joe White wrote:

Daria wrote:And I am one of the most reclusive, and quiet individuals there ever existed, fyi.

hmm.... wouldn't have guessed that

Well, I am....unless I'm hiking with Bob Burd

So, what are we doing this weekend?

Surfing with Killer Whales or Climbing?

http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/local/news/orcas-on-the-hunt-for-the-perfect-wave/3929872/

mrchad9 wrote:Well you obviously have not yet heard Vitaliy M going on and on about the color of the hardshells in his wardrobe. Does this mean he is comfortable with his homosexuality?

Finally, someone I can talk to about my color combinations! I've been incorporating little holes and knitting-like patterns in my latest outdoor wear, especially my pants. I am very shy-- even shier than Darija-- and find the brighter colors help me relate to other outdoors people.

MoapaPk wrote:
Finally, someone I can talk to about my color combinations! I've been incorporating little holes and knitting-like patterns in my latest outdoor wear, especially my pants. I am very shy-- even shier than Darija-- and find the brighter colors help me relate to other outdoors people.

I strongly approve of your fashion choices. Dismantling stereotypes, one man at a time!

FortMental wrote: Without the invention of knitting, we'd still be duct-taping animal skins to out damn bodies.

No really, the duct-taping stuff is OK, right?

Talk about THE first high-tech invention of all of human history, knitting is it! Bow down and pray to those who knit for they carry the keys to humanity's continued survival in this cold, savage, and indifferent universe.

I'm suddenly feeling intellectual and frisky, so discuss:

How modern computation derives from the Jacquard loom, and ultimately, from knitting.

Back to the original topic - when I think of it I realize that there are too many things I haven't given up for climbing although I should have.

The Chief wrote:And for you folks that didn't get my post... I haven't given up shit for climbing as it has been a priority in my life for a long ass time. Over 42 years to be exact.

Well said.

Climbing was my #1 priority for many, many years. I gave up...

Jobs. I lost track of how many jobs I quit in order to go climbing.

Money. No work, no money. Dumpster morsels don't taste all that bad after a while....

Meaningful relationships (I had plenty of meaningless relationships in the back of my Volkswagen in the Curry parking lot...)

Education. Could've gotten better than a 2.5 GPA were it not for climbing.

Family. Christmas is for climbing, not for family gatherings!

My body. It's ruined. Joints pop out of place. My knees, my knees... If I had known that I was going to live this long, I wouldn't have taken all those risks and had all those accidents.

Annnnnndddd... yet another initially thought-provoking thread devolves into a Darija and Pete Whinefest. We should make flyers. Entertaining for a few posts here and there to watch everyone get suckered in, but then I tear myself away so I can actually pack for another weekend adventure...

So what did I give up?

Living in a big city.
Really nasty air quality.
Traffic.
Mall shopping.
The thrill of hearing choppers over my head at 0200.
Working for 8 hours between the same four walls.
Paddling with my crew at Marina Outrigger.
Any significant amount of savings as I collected gear for whatever adventure would await me on a daily basis, year-round.
This year: time with my family as I trained. (Can't wait to see everyone at Christmas!)

What did I gain?

My own happiness.
Confidence in my abilities, and in who I am as a person.
Contact with incredible teachers (utmost thanks!).
The strongest bonds of friendship, which turns into family.
The development of (hopefully!) a lifelong passion that drives me daily.

Every morning, I look west when I drive out, and say hello to my "boys" (Tom, Basin, Humphreys, Locke, Emerson), and smile.

See ya'll in the heights.

-L

Well, back to the main question. I'll define "climbing" as getting to the top of a mountain, maybe with light use of ice axe and crampons, and some mild class 5.

I didn't give up anything for that; rather climbing gave me back some dignity.

I always did some "climbing," but for about 25 years, job and grad school took the vast amount of my extra time. I stayed in good shape with about 30 minutes exercise/day tops, but that was my limit for spare time.

Then in 2002, I had a freak stroke, due to a congenital heart defect. The doctors didn't hold out much hope for my survival, since the brain stem was damaged, along with a fair portion of the right cerebellum-- the portion that affects procedural memory (like learning to tie new knots), balance, and fine motions such as are used in writing and speaking. This was tough, as a lot of my job involved interactions with people; sort of high-level tutoring, using a blackboard and a computer screen. I felt like an idiot most of the time; I was always getting treated as mentally disabled by store clerks. I wrote my signature agonizingly slowly, and once had an impatient man in a wheelchair (behind me in the checkout line) shout angrily, "can't you see I'm handicapped!?" Think about writing your name, if you can't control motion in your dominant hand to within 3 mm.

But in the outdoors, I felt human again. There was hardly any need to use such fine motions; I learned to balance from intellectual cues (that's a vertical cliff, that's the horizontal horizon). You really don't have to aim for a handhold with all the much precision; and your non-dominant side can do much of the work.

So I didn't give up anything; climbing gave me back my life.

1000Pks wrote:btw, this is apparently classed as an adult site. Yes, SP is porn. You will not bring it up on some computers with parental control software activated.

Except we don't have video chat.

Pages 5-11 of this thread have a new home in Off-Route. I apologize to the few who actually made on-topic posts in those pages.

When I first came across this thread my initial thought was that the majority of people would probably be asking the question - How many adventures have I given up for family/career, etc.? Several people in this thread have already alluded to this. I would say mvs' perspective is from "the road less travelled" and I would gather is a much more difficult route than the traditional route of family/career. Like many I chose the latter, not the former, (primarily due to family) and I am content with that.

Eventually it does come down to being content with your choices, because typically some sacrifices have to be made. Yes, we would all like to have our cake and eat it too...it just usually doesn't work out that way for most people.

So since I choose to not be in the mountains each weekend, I get my mountain fix vicariously through the adventures/submittals of other SP members. Keep em' coming.

Joe White wrote:

mvs wrote:
A lot of us here have built our lives around the dream of climbing.

First, thanks for your post...it's very much appreciated! Second, not sure if you intentionally phrased this line "built our lives around the dream of climbing" as opposed to the alternative "built our lives on the dream of climbing"....but to me, the former seems preferable to the latter. There's a difference, right?

Definitely a difference! The former phrasing admits that there are many good things in life, and unless you have very special circumstances, it's more likely that climbing occupies a room in your house rather than that it be the house. We could also lose climbing at any time. Remembering that might allow us to be thankful for it but enjoy the rest of life as well. Thanks for the comment!

Bob Shiller.... Respectfully, I don't really like the moves you make as a moderator, at all, no way at all. I mean who do you think you are? Threads have a way of growing in there own organic way, and you sir, by moving stuff, deleting stuff, modifying stuff is just plain WRONG.

I bet you move or delete this too.

Guyzo I appreciate that Bob kept serious conversation in the thread in the main forum. I accept some blame that he had to do some work here because I opened this thread with 1) a philosophical topic that has borne fruit, and 2) some pretty angry comments about forum activities. I ended up adding fuel to a fire that didn't need it, and undermining the serious topic I wanted to talk about in the first place. Eventually recognizing my error, I assumed the whole thread would be chucked into Off-Route. Bob did me a favor and I have to say thanks for his editing service. I think the fork did allow the thread to keep growing in a positive way.