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ruppell
climber
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kenny. I guess it is true what they say about arrogance and ignorance going hand in hand. You are either stupid or trolling. I haven't decided yet.
LOL
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Snowmassguy +1
And adding to the misery for his family the moment that got him was so public.
RIP
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zBrown
Ice climber
chingadero de chula vista
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“There are but three true sports--bullfighting, mountain climbing, and motor-racing.”
Now that is an interesting statement. I guess cage fighting wasn't a sport when Ernest was taking his survey.
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kennyt
climber
Woodfords,California
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Ruppell, surely you can do better than that.
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ruppell
climber
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kenny, that's about all I have for right now. I'm gonna see if I can get a few Rockstars in my system. Troll on. lol
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kennyt
climber
Woodfords,California
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Just an opinion. Just an opinion. Just an opinion. Just an opinion.
Yeah Jim, thought it would end there got sucked in. Should have replaced "Lamest" with something else my bad
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Thank's donini, I meant no disrespect to the athlete, just that as long as these companys keep paying young guy's to perform this crazy sh#t we'll probably just keep seeing more of the same. hell his own brother got effed up at the same event.
Completely agree with this.
But not when it's phrased like this;
This has to be one of the lamest sports ever. I'm sorry for the loss but what's next,convertable car jumping?
This is exactly the same thing as soloing dude. Putting yourself in a fatal position because you're positive you can pull it off. Do you have any idea how many backflips Caleb had survived to this point?? 3 x-games titles to his name plus numerous other comps.
You might as well say Bachar was a putz and Honnold is an idiot. And to trash an entire sport based on one incident? What if someone had said that about climbing after JB's passing???
No disrespect to either of those guys. Just trying to point out to Kenny what he sounds like.
Too much of this crap going on for sure. 200 foot gaps are standard fare in the snowboard world these days.. wont be long.. Sarah Burke died skiing in the pipe last year, John Jack and a bunch of other guys in the tunnel creek incident..
Shayne McConkey, Jamie Pierre, Craig Kelly, Cr Johnson, Doug Coobs... Not to mention all the climbers, moto racers, boxers, wrestlers ect ect.
No disrespect to anyone I didn't mention as obviously there are many.
Point is, sh!ts getting crazy these days and people better start thinking about how far things can really be pushed before it's simply a death sentence every other attempt. This goes for a lot of sports.
I know when I push the limits riding a gnarly close out line where death is one wrong turn away, or one avalanche, I've fully accepted my choice and ALL its potential outcomes.
I feel most of the people in these sports feel the same way I do at least I hope they realize the consequences of their actions. Kenny you are right though, they should not allow themselves to be pushed to the point of no return.
Where do we draw the line tho? Are we going to have a nanny state and make sure everyone is safe?
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east side underground
climber
Hilton crk,ca
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first fatality in 19 years of all the crazy sh#t that is the x games......just sayin'.....RIP, condolences to family and friends
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Oh fvck. I was so pissed I didn't even say it. RIP Caleb!!!!!!
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kennyt
climber
Woodfords,California
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I was so pissed Sorry to have upset you, it was
Just an opinion.
I will try to start keeping them to myself. can we be done with this now?
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Big Mike,
It'd be the same as soloing if you were hot-dogging it up the route.
I've never known Bachar and Honnold get into trouble while show-boating.
The guy on the snowmobile didn't just drive straight up and straight down the hill, keeping contact to the ground like you would if you were going from point-a to point-b. He hit the hill as hot as he could, and attempted a backwards loop-the-loop.
Chick Hearn would have said "Mustard's off the hot dog!"
I think the anology to doing back-flips in a convertible is a good one. Just like convertibles, snowmobiles were designed to transport people from point-a to point-b. They were not designed to fly, which is why you have to fly one, if you want to use one to draw attention to yourself ( hot dogging ).
I've never understood why anybody would get a vehicle capable of taking you hundreds of miles in any direction, and be content to drive the thing around in circles. Up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill, getting no where. Like a dog chasing its own tail! Never to travel even a half-mile from where they parked.
As foolish as I think these dog-chasing-its-own-tail, how-cool-did-that-look?- sports are, I hate to see anybody get hurt doing one.
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Warning, video below is graphic.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
It's arrogance to think that somehow this sport is stupid but climbing isn't. You don't know why he did his sport or what it meant to him. Yes sponsors pay him money but how many expeditions got sponsored by TNF only to lose climbers, or worse yet sherpas who are using the money to support their families?
Some people want to live their lives risking it all on the world stage. Absolutely he knew the risks involved, but he took them because he was a conscious person pursuing his passion, Red Bull or not.
We are all relying on infrastructure...
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Ljohnson
Social climber
The land of ice, snow and rocks
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RIP Caleb.
Several good points on this thread (let's just pretend Kenny is not posting.)
I never really thought about how the progression of climbing is unique compared to other sports. In the world of "extreme sports" climbing is waaaaay old. With the advances in gear climbing is getting safer (with the exception of certain tactics used in speed climbing.)
However, in the newer sports, gear advances are creating a bar that is rising at an incredible level. I have a ski movie where a skier is talking about how a few years ago if you fell freesking you only had to worry about breaking bones. Now it is accepted that the top level athletes are doing drops where death is a big part of the equation.
The convertible comparison is way off. Those sleds way 450lbs and have more horsepower than most cars not to mention huge travel in the suspension. The hoersepower to weight ratio on those vehicles is mind boggling and created solely for jumps.
Growing up in my household I hated OHV's with a passion. After the first time I caught air on a sled I bought one the next day. It's really a lot of fun (if yer into that kind of thing.) What Caleb was doing was way off the charts compared to his colleagues.
For climbers to throw stones at these people is absurd. All you can complain about is the environmental impact, which is a perfectly valid point (see Blue Camalots post.) But please do not call what Caleb was doing stupid, because you climb for a lot of the same reasons that he snowmobiled.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Kenny I'm over it. You have a right to your opinion obviously. I was composing my post while you posted your retraction.
I'm sorry but the opinion that someone who died doing something they love is stupid doesn't fly for me. Your argument doesn't fly either Chaz. Soloing is a calculated risk just like flipping a sled. Just because you did it once doesn't necessarily mean that you will pull it off next time.
You can't control all the factors in either situation. To judge one less risky than the other is ridiculous.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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+1000
GDavis and ljohnson!
I've never understood why anybody would get a vehicle capable of taking you hundreds of miles in any direction, and be content to drive the thing around in circles. Up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill, getting no where. Like a dog chasing its own tail! Never to travel even a half-mile from where they parked.
Not all of us sled like this either. Some if us use our machines to access the snow on our skis and boards and also I like to ride my sled down the same lines we ski and snowboard! Obviously mostly straightforward chutes and bowls and cornice drops but still amazing!!
Some of us have respect for the snow too, and don't high mark ski slopes because we know what hitting frozen high marks at high speed feels like.
How quickly you paint us all with the same brush!
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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^^^^^^^^^^^^
I never argued that though. I agree with that.
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Ljohnson
Social climber
The land of ice, snow and rocks
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JBrennan,
Very good point that I did not address in my first point. I absolutely agree with you in that sponsorships make people do dangerous things for the wrong reasons.
I have met a lot of these "Red Bull" type athletes. From my experience, it's about 50/50 between the guys who are just trying to pursue their passion and the guys who have more money oriented motivations.
Ahem...
It took me three tries to say that last part nicely.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Think about when you were 20-25 years old.
These guys are totally into their motor vehicles and their motor sports. They are happy to be sponsored, and happy to be out there tearing it up.
Did sponsorship drive him to be so foolish that he killed himself? Or did sponsorship allow him to push his limits to the point wher he got killed?
There is a fine line between bravery and foolishness. He crossed that line.
People probably view climbers as a bunch of suicidal freaks. Do you see yourself as a climber and suicidal freak?
Regardless - the outcome was predictable and motor sports are lame. And that's one less snowmobile stinking up the air.
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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It's a good idea to pay your own shot and not have to feel your life is something to gamble with in order to fulfill a contract.
Once again Jim B, this is great wisdom.
RIP Caleb. That was really strange to watch & I don't know how I feel about it & how it's so easy to see that moment which seems so inappropriate in this medium.
I agree that this is like soloing.The obvious difference is that there never has been & hopefully never will be an organized, sponsored, mass broadcasted & marketed, globally corporate freesoloing contest.
Not sure what X gheymz can do to prevent this in the future like they say unless they want to take the X out & start broadcasting jenga competitions. If they made a no backflip rule nobody would watch since their entire audience thinks backflips in any form are the most BITCHEN thing ever. Thing that really sucks is that this was likely a stock jump for him & his attention glanced for just a fraction of a second. That's happened to all of us so as Donini said (more wisdom)
Regardless....the passing of a 25 year old, in the prime of his life, is grounds for all to pause and reflect on the fragility of life and the pain that such an event visits on loved ones.
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