Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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it's not the drill, it's the driller?!
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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hossjulia
climber
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Walked into the gear shop in El Chorro around 9 am. Musta been a rough night, the disheveled proprietor glared at me with sleepy bloodshot eyes and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I was fishing for a partner and completely blew it. I’d been examining the routes and they appeared to be mostly bolted sport climbs. So I tried asking a few questions, in English, and got a full blown big sigh, shake of a shaggy head and more glaring. He goes off, muttering in Spanish, I think, and comes back with a cup which appeared to be coffee. The door WAS open and the lights were on, but it was clearly much too early for conversation. I pushed on, desperate to climb something, anything. Don’t remember exactly what I said, but I know the term “sport climbs” was involved. OMG, if I had been a man, I believe he would have at the least thrown me out of his shop. The rather passionate reply was something along the lines of, El Chorro is NO sport! Ground up, bolted TRAD(itional) climbing! and turned back to his coffee and cigarette. I looked at guides, in Spanish with a rating system I did not know. I hemmed and hawed around, he was kinda scary. Finally taking pity on me, he offers, I guide you, I show you. $200 for half day. Not today. Not even remotely in my budget.
Thoroughly intimidated and disheartened, I declined, bought a topo map of the area, and left.
El Chorro is a (locally proclaimed) trad area. With bolted routes that as far as I could see, did not go all the way to the top of the crags. On further inspection, the bolts were not all that close together and there was gear on some of the racks I saw pass by. But plenty of hanging and working routes in the big cave like amphitheater.
It’s all climbing to me.
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Dingus McGee
Social climber
Laramie
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Ed,
it's not the drill, it's the driller?!
The annual meeting of the NDA was held at the Sinks Canyon Bar this evening with Steve Babits chairing. The topic was background checks for drillers in that NDA used to say it was not the drill that ruined climbing but the driller. NDA will not support the idea of background checks for drillers despite a lot of boulders are now being drilled that have no routes yet.
DAM, Mothers Against Drillers, wants a full generation (25 years) between being able to purchase a drill and getting drill batteries and drill bits. They think father buys drill then schools son in TRAD for 25 years, father dies and the son/daughter inherits the drill with the legal understanding that such QUALIFIED offspring had met the cool down period for unchecked buying of batteries and drill bits. We suspect Wal Mart will be the first illegal outlet for Chinese lookalikes and they will ignore the Federal Carding.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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You do have a point there. very few should be allowed to drill as most do not have the proper mindset to not screw up the rock. mandatory two year stint with a hand drill might get them to think a bit before drilling but some folks just never get it. i know a few who should have their drills conficated!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Does one pontificate before one "conficates" a drill?
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Can a 12 year old be trad. He wears high top climbing shoes(sometimes with socks), tells me to shut up when I give him too much beta, doesn't clip bolts very often, only climbs several number grades lower than what he is capable of, and knows who Fritz Wiessner is.
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Mark Force
Trad climber
Cave Creek, AZ
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Good job, Mike! That's a well-parented kid!
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Not sure what trad is, maybe this?
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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great find V. Haha.
duct tape is trad, right?
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
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May 22, 2013 - 06:36pm PT
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Tarbuster...
Moving on in this thread is not only noble it's essential
I hate to arouse the pedantic ghosts of this thread but I gotta ask...
How is trad climbing noble?
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The Warbler
climber
the edge of America
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May 22, 2013 - 07:29pm PT
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Noble - Having or showing qualities of high moral character, such as courage, generosity, or honor...
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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May 22, 2013 - 09:05pm PT
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Some guy asked if I climbed trad the other day.
He got real pissed off when I said the term trad was an overused misnomer and that anything beyond climbing ropeless, barefoot in a loincloth was not traditional.
To each their own.
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Jebus H Bomz
climber
Peavine Basecamp
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May 22, 2013 - 09:16pm PT
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So, like, do you?
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The Warbler
climber
the edge of America
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May 22, 2013 - 09:31pm PT
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anything beyond climbing ropeless, barefoot in a loincloth was not traditional.
The real purists get all snippy about wearing a loincloth
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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May 22, 2013 - 09:32pm PT
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Nope, I'm a technophile and an aid climber.
Henry Barber and Skip Guerin are examples that come to mind.
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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May 22, 2013 - 09:45pm PT
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I think that boulder problem in Vitaliy's photo is a Gill route.
when he did it it was trad.
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
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May 23, 2013 - 08:41pm PT
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Kevin, that description seems appropriate if we are talking about "climbers"
but I interpreted it as the "activity of climbing was noble"
which is a bit pretentious considering how selfish it is overall.
Maybe I misunderstood but was just looking for clarification.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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May 23, 2013 - 08:52pm PT
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Noble schmobel. And courage schmourage for that matter. After 56 years, I love climbing as much as the next guy, but nobility and courage (except when referring to those who perform rescues) hardly apply to what is, in the end, just a game we choose to play.
Don't get me wrong, the game seems important to the players. To us. Some have devoted their lives to it. But I see more nobility in someone who, say, gives up a passion for climbing and works two jobs so their kids can have a better life than in all our heros combined posing on all the hard-gained summits of the planet.
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T Hocking
Trad climber
Redding, Ca
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May 23, 2013 - 09:18pm PT
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Quote But I see more nobility in someone who, say, gives up a passion for climbing and works two jobs so their kids can have a better life than in all our heros combined posing on all the hard-gained summits of the planet. Here
+1 WORD!
Guilty myself.
30 yr. climbing hiatus to do just that.
resumed climbing after becoming a grandfather.
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