Idiocy on Frogland (Bad Climber Behavior On-route Thread)

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ruppell

climber
Oct 18, 2010 - 10:45pm PT
I've passed and been passed. deal with it. preferably not by tying off someones lead line(although you have to admit thats pretty clever). also hopefully not by pissing on someone. I do agree that the rock is not yours. maybe we should have little speed signs on our backs.

"oh crap Bob that guy on frogland is a 1fps. we should head over to triassic sands where that guys a 4 fps"

seems insane dont it. again just deal.
Wonder

climber
WA
Oct 18, 2010 - 10:52pm PT
Hari, that's the weirdest story ever.
WBraun

climber
Oct 18, 2010 - 10:56pm PT
Big passing tip #2789

When you're barreling right up on the heels of the slow leader head of you climb past the belay he's at and belay above his belay.

Don't make a clusterf*#k.

Then beat your chest a few times and bellow some weird sounds.

When your second get's to your belay make sure you smoke the fuk up the rest of the route and disappear ......
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Oct 18, 2010 - 11:30pm PT
So if the person trying to pass is obviously not that fast, a dick or dangerous what do you do then. I have been on ledges waiting for people above me to go and someone tries to pass and I can say it is truely irratating. Ice climbing even more so. Opps knocked some large chuncks of ice off.
Matt

Trad climber
primordial soup
Oct 19, 2010 - 01:14am PT
maybe i missed a little bit of this, but if the leader being passed was clipping the bite into the anchor he was at, the the passing party led up twice the pitch(es) and passed, whilst the party being passed led and started to belay, so clearly there was a discrepancy in speed.

wrt to offense of tying off the 2nd, that sounds more of an inconvenience than an assault. i wonder when the passed party realized he'd have to pass back if he didn't free the rope...



Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Oct 19, 2010 - 01:23am PT
Nothing much new about passing climbers has been said here. But I like harihari's and Peter's stories.
Decko

Trad climber
Colorado
Oct 19, 2010 - 01:32am PT
17 years on the stone and ice..........

All over the US...Europe, Big mountains, sport climbs, heaps of trad lines.....

Yea........

I don't know what I'm talking about.......
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 19, 2010 - 01:41am PT
On the second pitch of the Salathe some dood came jugging up his fixed rope.
When he got close I saw it was His Bridwellness. I let him pass, trying
not to fawn excessively: "Excuse me kind sir, but do you have any Grey Poupon,
or a couple of Camels you could spare?"
Roughster

Sport climber
Vacaville, CA
Oct 19, 2010 - 01:52am PT
I agree with DMT and Bhilden here. If you are going to pass, it better be a favor to my party and yours. I have been in both shoes, both the slower party (bringing people up the 1st MP, we got there "1st" and early for that very reason) and the fast party chomping at the bit.

You know what worked in both cases? Talking to the other group. When we were the slow group. I talked to the leader as they hit the belay. Knew that ahead was a large ledge and would provide them with a great place to pass (Cat in the Hat). They waited till the next pitch, they passed while we chilled on the ledge and drank a beer.

On the other hand, I have passed people on Lotta Balls (and that's only a 3 pitch route!) and several Yosemite classics. In each case, when I got to the belay I started off with a friendly "Hello" and "What'd you think of that last pitch?" In all cases, we were gone seconds after they said yes and we put the hammer down till we had at least a 2 pitch gap on them.

From reading the OP it is not clear if this was a "hostile takeover" or not. My guess was it was considering the alleged action aka tying them off. I also agree that the tough guy mentality here and on other websites that you often see is rarely the reality in real life, but every now and then you will meet someone who will call you on your bullshit and actually be prepared to seal the deal.

Someone mentioned that "accidents" happen in the Desert. My $$ would be on the guy with enough balls to tie someone else off then the guy who passed.
Josh Higgins

Trad climber
San Diego
Oct 19, 2010 - 02:08am PT
Reminds me of gyms and sport climbing areas when someone walks over and says: "Excuse me, are you almost done with that route?" When what he/she is clearly saying is: "Excuse me, YOU PEOPLE WHO AREN'T AS GOOD AS I AM: are you almost done with that route?"

This is just an ignorant statement....
Blakeb

Gym climber
Southern Oregon, behind her
Oct 19, 2010 - 06:08am PT
Im with you there josh, i also thought that was one of the dumbest things i have read here in a while, how else do you politely ask someone if they plan to run laps on something or if they are indeed wrapping up their use of a rope.

Jsj is a genius and he put alot of my thoughts while reading this thread into a way better more concise write up then i am capable of. Blaming your as#@&%e partner and talking alot allowing them to only mutter a few words of agreeing with you that he is indeed an as#@&%e and in a matter of minutes it is over. Jsj, have we climb together, haha

Simuling is the easiest way to pass, or like werner said, climb past their anchor and set yours higher, then keep stepping on it.

All this complaining about passing...ya sound like really old men

Having said that my buddy got spat on by some euro in the valley, cussed at thoroughly, and then they pulled his gear out as he lead quickly past, subjecting him to the possibility of a quite large fall while simul climbing. Seems outrageous to me to not let a clearly faster party climb through quickly.

If you are the as#@&%e passing when you are slow as sh#t anyway, quit f*#king it up for everyone else...
426

climber
Buzzard Point, TN
Oct 19, 2010 - 09:16am PT
Interesting stuff PH...

I'm in agreement with Donini as long as you don't "slow down" in the fast lane. Sometimes that fog is fear and it might help seeing someone blaze-it has in a few cases for me..

Potter and O'Neill passed us on SFWC in a day, we were going along pretty quick,but not that fast. Potter was 40' run on some pretty sick terrain, asking, "mind if we play through?"...gone like the wind.


At the same time, I've been passed by some Austrians on Salathe Wall who dropped a biner and a grigri on the party above us, hitting the same guy twice (ya, he got tagged with a gri!) so I understand the trepidation of pokeys. The rock is a shared resource in a lot of places...


DanaB

climber
Philadelphia
Oct 19, 2010 - 09:28am PT
Im with you there josh, i also thought that was one of the dumbest things i have read here in a while, how else do you politely ask someone if they plan to run laps on something or if they are indeed wrapping up their use of a rope.

See Spot. See Spot run.
Bad Climber

climber
Oct 19, 2010 - 09:41am PT
My most memorable being-passed scenario was on the West Face of El Cappo. My one and only time up that stone, the West Face, aid and free, I had just pulled a long, overhanging thin crack--on aiders, don't ya know--when I look down to see a pretty woman at the belay with my mates. She's belaying someone I can't see who's working the overhang. In no time, a thin English dude, none other than Ron Fawcett cranks the lip and says something like: "Mind if I just nip by here?"

"No problem," I say, easily stepping over to some knobs. Zoom, he's up to the ledge. He then pulls up their gear, a couple of water bottles and a small bag, presumably with a bit of food and wind breakers in it.

Fawcett says: "I bet you wish your bag was this light! My bag's at the other end of the line." Then, yelling louder, "Sorry 'bout that, luv!"

I hung out for a few minutes until Jill soon-to-be Fawcett and bound for a status of ex-Fawcett climbed by. They were both off the ledge before my second had cleaned the roof. The whole affair was quite pleasant, and it was great to meet a super star in such a setting.

So much of the passing situation depends on the attitudes of the group and the nature of the route, room on ledges, etc. I recall one a-hole who couldn't wait for a slow party of noobs following Mentalphysics in Josh. C'mon, ass hat, it's the most popular 5.7 in the Wonderland. It's only a little over a pitch long, and there are only thousands of other climbs in the park. A young woman was creeping up the first pitch, and this dic was dogging her heals, his eyes literally at her foot level, and I don't think he was there to check out her booty. The ledge at the top of the pitch is more like a stance, if I recall. Such moron. My partner and I watched the zoo for a while and wandered off. If there are no routes within one's ability immediately available in the Wonderland, wander! Whether you climb or not, your time will be well spent.

BAd
phylp

Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
Oct 19, 2010 - 10:18am PT
I've never been asked to pass on a route but I attribute that more to avoiding popular routes on weekends than to being particularly fast.

But none of you have mentioned the phenomenon of preemptive passing, which as a woman who often climbs with other women, used to happen to me a lot. This is when I'd be at the base of a route, already racking up, and another party (2 men), would come up and ask if they could just jump on the route ahead of us bcause they were going to be fast.

My most specific memory of this was at the base of Oz. My partner Rita was halfway up the first pitch when a party of three guys came up and proceed with audible grubling and obvious unhappiness. I can't remember at this point if they actually said anything about passing but I probably gave my standard response to these situations which was just to say, if we seem to be too slow, feel free to say something. I have to say I felt rather gratified when I was leading off left for the 10a finish, to see that none of their party had yet reached the second belay.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Oct 19, 2010 - 10:31am PT
It is interesting that a lot of climbers will make judgements about a parties speed based on gender, age etc. without actually having seen them climb. Lot's of fun to see them with egg on their faces. Oz is my favorite climb in the Meadows.
Greg Barnes

climber
Oct 19, 2010 - 11:18am PT
Yep, years ago Karin & I did South Crack with a friend of ours on Tuolumne SAR - she'd just never got around to it despite years of climbing up there. So we're racking up at the base, and she starts to lead off just as two guys come around the corner (you can't quite see the base from the car). They start grumbling about a team of 3 with 2 girls climbing slow and ask about passing - not even noticing that Rachel is already 100' up the harder start with only a couple pieces in. By the time they put their packs down and look around, I had simulclimbed up a few feet of 4th and Rachel was off belay at the second pitch ledge.

We topped out and could see down half the route - they hadn't appeared.

Karin told us later that just before she left the ground, she had to mention that they had been whining at their Supertopo guide author and one of the Tuolumne SAR folks who would rescue them if they got in trouble...
Jingy

climber
Somewhere out there
Oct 19, 2010 - 11:23am PT
wow...

enlightening story E.


Showing ones pride comes in many forms.

First (slower) party lead may not have liked the idea of being passed.

No excuse for such actions. Dude (faster lead) should have come down and laid some womp (kick a$$) on that (slower) mans face.
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Oct 19, 2010 - 11:49am PT
Great post (previous page) Jsj LOL Great advice!

I understand being pissed off at someone passing you. You get up early and get there first.. you have the right of way but if you are pokey, you gotta be reasonable.

The vast majority of us in this situation would just get pissed off and have some words. I guess it's just shocking the guy actually tied the bite off. It's the sort of thing you think about doing when you are angry... but to actually actively sabotage a popular route seems pretty unreasonable. He wasn't just punishing up the offending passer... he was f*#king up the day for the 3rd/4th parties climbing below as well who did nothing to deserve the delay and drama.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 19, 2010 - 12:03pm PT
As a mariner I must insist that y'all BIGHT ME!!!!
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