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Jawon
climber
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 15, 2015 - 09:01am PT
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Sorry for adding to the dozen other DW threads, but... What analogy would help our non-climber friends understand the magnitude of this climb?
Seahawks 5-peating?
McIlroy doing a single-year grand slam?
Spurs sweeping every game in the playoffs?
Pujols hitting 80 home runs in a year?
Sub 2-hour marathon?
I just can't quite think of one that captures the technical difficulty, the pain tolerance, the physical endurance, the psychological determination, the uncertainty of mother nature, the objective dangers, and the reality of living on 18 square feet of cloth for most of 19 days.
It just seems too different from any non-climbing accomplishment. But maybe this? It's like golfing under par for 19 days straight, on the 1% most difficult courses in the world, some being the 0.1% most difficult, walking the whole way, but when not actually golfing you gotta stay and sleep in a cart, and the wind is whipping around... and you got alligators crawling all around?
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Jan 15, 2015 - 09:41am PT
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Sorry for adding to the dozen other DW threads
I like your analogy, and I like your apology.
But aren't there more than a dozen threads about the DW/WOTEML already? It may only seem like it.
We're not keeping a total here, though, not like in golf.
"Didn't you count that last putt, dude? Let me see the score card. Just like I thought. I'll keep score from now on."
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Jan 15, 2015 - 09:50am PT
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I tell them it's like climbing a wall with quarters screwed onto it. I guess it's still a climbing analogy but it get's the point across.
I also tell them that it's exactly like what I do on weekends but since I'm super humble I keep it a secret from the news.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Jan 15, 2015 - 11:51am PT
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"Didn't you count that last putt, dude? Let me see the score card. Just like I thought. I'll keep score from now on."
We must play with two different types of crowds, Mouse. The pro in my club (back when I played) used to joke that if golf pencils had erasers, no one would be eligible for the club championship (because they were a bunch of ##@@$%!! sandbaggers).
John
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jgill
Boulder climber
Colorado
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Jan 15, 2015 - 11:54am PT
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Getting to the moon using scraps from your garage shop.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Jan 15, 2015 - 12:16pm PT
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Michael Phelps's 8 Gold Medals
The first person to sail around the world solo
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay successfully climbing Mount Everest for the first time in 1953.
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Shingle
climber
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Jan 15, 2015 - 01:45pm PT
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Kourtney and Kim Take Miami?
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Mr_T
Trad climber
Northern California
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Jan 15, 2015 - 02:05pm PT
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This is what it'll be like to see the first sub 2 hour marathon, if the record breaker just smashes the current record by some insane margin like > 5 minutes.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
Boise, ID
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Jan 15, 2015 - 02:17pm PT
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There is no "Everest". That is an English name.
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troutboy
Trad climber
Newark, DE
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Jan 15, 2015 - 02:24pm PT
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Birthing a baby through your urethra.
That should certainly cover the pain, endurance, and mental fortitude parts.
TS
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Srbphoto
climber
Kennewick wa
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Jan 15, 2015 - 03:51pm PT
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ho man! yer gonna catch shitt for comparing this to golf !!!!!!
yeah, golf is way more exciting to watch!
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Jan 15, 2015 - 04:34pm PT
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To me, the lingua franca for athletic achievements is the equivalent number of deep-knee bends you can do in a row. I couldn't even venture a guess for Tommy and Kevin.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Jan 15, 2015 - 06:22pm PT
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Fughettabout non-climbers. I'm not so sure most climbers (including my elderly outdated self) understand the Dawn Wall.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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Jan 15, 2015 - 06:26pm PT
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god having a second son.
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Jawon
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 16, 2015 - 07:54am PT
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I actually think golf is a good analogy to convey the technical precision required in climbing at a top level, which most people wouldn't think is necessary for climbing. And these days, people get that it requires strength to be world class. On top of that, it is a slow game like climbing. So replace the caddie with a belayer, the polo shirt with a puffie, the Titleist cap with an Adidas beanie, and the bag of clubs with a rack of cams, and it's about as close a sport as you'll get to climbing :) Come to think of it, I could go on and on with the comparisons, but I digress.
So the analogy I like is this... it's as if there is the hardest golf course in the world, all hills with wickedly fast greens, more hazards than grass, 700 yard par 5's, that only one golfer has even attempted, and after 7 years of practice, he shoots under par... and of course it is a 19-day round... with alligators hunting you down. I'm gonna go with that.
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brett
climber
oregon
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Jan 16, 2015 - 01:00pm PT
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If you had as many people working on free Dawn Wall as are pursuing the marathon WR, with as much money and resources, Dawn Wall would be free in a day with no falls. Marathon WR is worth millions and is being attacked 24/7 by an incredible talent pool of hungry hungry runners.
No disrespect to an incredible climb, but it's not a good analogy.
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Rudder
Trad climber
Costa Mesa, CA
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Jan 16, 2015 - 04:59pm PT
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As staggering as the free Dawn Wall is, the odds of the Dawn Wall going free were much better than the odds that ANY golfer will EVER win all four Golf Majors in one year.
That would be more like getting the top 100 climbers in the world to climb the hardest aid route, ice climb, sport climb, and offwidth climb. And having one climber do them all faster and better than anyone else.
To put it in another way, the odds of a golfer winning all four majors in the same calender year are about as good as the odds of me hitting a homerun off a major league pitcher. Basically, it's just not going to happen.
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Rudder
Trad climber
Costa Mesa, CA
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Jan 16, 2015 - 05:09pm PT
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Michael Phelps's 8 Gold Medals
The first person to sail around the world solo
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay successfully climbing Mount Everest for the first time in 1953.
I think those are in the ballpark. :)
How about being Amish for 7 years? hehe
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