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| Messages 1 - 30 of total 30 in this topic |
mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 3, 2015 - 03:00pm PT
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Does everyone have to have a PROJ?
Do I want to climb harder? Yeah
Do I want to put up new routes? Yeah
Do I want to do the same climb over and over and over and over and over and over and over? No
Ten steps to step away from the proj.
1) Climb something easy.
2) Climb ice. You should never fall and therefore always send.
3) Solo, if you fall that will take care of the proj.
4) If you cant climb something find something you can climb.
5) Don't see it as a failure if you fall. You probably climbed more moves than you fell on.
6) Go for a walk, falling is much less likely there.
7) Aid it. Falling on a free route is failure but hanging on an aid route and getting up it is a success.
8) Quit worrying about what everyone else thinks.
9) Eat a donut. They taste good.
10) Lie and say you did it if the first 9 don't work.
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selfish man
Gym climber
Austin, TX
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If the definition of a proj is "a climb I cannot climb" then I've got a lot of them. Some are pretty hard, too
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Number 5 is a great way of thinking! I like your attitude!
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WyoRockMan
climber
Flank of the Big Horns
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We should work some of these PROJs some season soon!
Edit: I guess they aren't projs yet, just more of the to do list.
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Hey Mike,
My suggestion is to try in get another hobby besides climbing. I feel fortunate that I have always had other interest, which keep me busy and productive during the off season. In fact, I'm far more accomplished at these other activities than I ever was at climbing, and hopefully will be able to do these hobbies long after I'm unable to hike up to a cliff.
I'm not giving up climbing yet, but as I approach 70, the thought does cross my mind. We all cannot be like J.D.
Here are a few items I made over X'mas, for gifts:
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Beautiful Steve!
As for projecting in general, I parted company with mainstream climbing over that idea, at a time before sport climbing existed and folks were sieging trad climbs. It never was and surely still isn't where my interests lie. There have certainly been climbs I aspired to, but I've somehow managed 58 years of climbing without ever trying an individual pitch more than three times. (Ok, full disclosure, I have tried some gym routes more than that.) So my response would be that you can have a full and extensive and satisfying climbing life without even a single proj, in the modern sense, ever. That being the case, I'd say mike m's answer #8 pretty much does it all.
Steve, at 71, giving up climbing crosses my mind too, but so far the thought keeps on walking. But after almost a lifetime of thinking giving up climbing would be unthinkable, I no longer find the prospect hard to imagine, and feel I have a pretty good idea of what else I'd do, if health cooporates, which cannot, however, be counted on. A day at a time seems to be the best way to proceed.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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^^^^^^ Wisdom, youngsters.
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Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
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If your heart's not in it then by all means don't ever project anything. But...1)projecting will make you stronger than anything else you could do and 2)you'll find more reward and satisfaction from finally doing something that you've worked really, really, really hard on than on sighting a bunch of climbs below your capability.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Your not cool BECAUSE you use the word PROJ.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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A project and a tattoo? What is this some sort of mid-life crisis?
Next you'll be driving some sort of fast red car
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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Steve A, yes yo are cool. There are so many more projects associated with climbing besides route development. Diversify, look around, get into things like writing, helping with other peeps projects as well as developing new areas, teaching us newbies not only to climb but be super safe on the rock.
Or you can email Jstan, John Stannard about trash pick up. One can join groups like Allied Climbers of San Diego to help keep climbing areas open and work on trails. There's so much to do in our lifetime.
AND if you have some time and money I have a great project for JTree.
Smiles and Cheers, Lynnie
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 3, 2015 - 04:52pm PT
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Hobo dan it's not fast but it is red and looks fast. Does that make me cool. Thanks for the advice Mike and Steve. I feel like I gonna puke if I see the phrase "you send your proj" again. Not everyone has to climb harder. If you like to climb just climb. I have accepted I won't be getting sponsored(it was a tough pill to swallow) but I still like to climb and will keep doing so even when weak. But I guess if I have a proj it would be Yellowstone Kelly, but I have only been on it once about 5 years ago.
BTW the focus gets 40 mpg if I keep it under 60. Kinda like my climbing. Just keep going and going at a moderate level.
Wyo, #bighornsthissummer.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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7) Aid it. Falling on a free route is failure but hanging on an aid route and getting up it is a success.
Paradigm Truth right there.
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jstan
climber
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It all depends upon what interests one. I did one thing I thought to be a project. Six feet short of the top I looked down and decided I would never do another. Absent physical injury I suspect most people quit climbing because they find something more interesting to do. One good reason to avoid injury.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Thinking back, I can only think of one "project" in a 45-year climbing career. That was Roofer Madness, a 7-8 pitch route near Mt Evans that I eventually did with George Lowe after maybe 2 attempts with someone else and a previous one with George. If I can't do something, I generally just move on to something else. I have no problem with this. I want to maximize the good parts about climbing.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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do gym projects count?
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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Spider, only if you're dismantling them.
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kaholatingtong
Trad climber
therealmccoy from Nevada City
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Shrug, but then again, based on those standards I wouldn't be cool either. If one is to spend a few years on a slow recovery, climbing their way back from a bad car accident, it becomes a lot easier to appreciate climbing for what it really is. Ultimately, what does it really matter what others think?
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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I have no interest whatsoever in a PROJ.
Mike F , it may be true for you that a Proj is more satisfiying than an easier onsight but it's not true for everyone. The climbs I remember most clearly, that I got the most satisfaction from were things just at my limit that I onsighteded, or long, fun perfect days with friends.
To each his/her own.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mike...climbing as much as I know you do WITHOUT a PROJ makes you super cool in my book.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Life is a project.
It sounds better if you don't abbreviate it.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Tattoo, projects or red cars?--no need- Just keep posting all those great pictures-You'll be the last cool man standing!
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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Projects refer to the potential FA only.
Peop try bend the definition to anything they haven't done before, but that's wrong.
It's good to repeat stuff, but always have your own project to go back to is where the magic happens.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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My ex-wife. Lifetime project.
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anita514
Gym climber
Great White North
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Shrug, but then again, based on those standards I wouldn't be cool either. If one is to spend a few years on a slow recovery, climbing their way back from a bad car accident, it becomes a lot easier to appreciate climbing for what it really is. Ultimately, what does it really matter what others think?
Pretty much.
And yeah, I have a proj - it's getting out and climbing again.
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sempervirens
climber
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But you should not pluralize proj. PROJs? What the hell is that? Way effed up. Next thing ya' know people will be projing all over the damn place. Proj this and proj that. Projize it.... first projist
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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So long as your day planner still has room for some friends on the rope!
Always a free spot for you guys.
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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1) Climb something easy.
actually... that's the problem. My PROJ is easy
Stick It, 5.10, Winslow Wall.
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yanqui
climber
Balcarce, Argentina
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If having a proj means working to get a climb (boulder or route) that seemed way over your head first time you tried it, then my life as a climber has been filled with projects. Hell, the first 5.10c I ever did, almost 40 years ago, (it was Don Quixote, a short overhanging crack at Minnehaha in Spokane, first climbed by Roskelley) I had to work on top rope various times for several months before I could even climb it. Sometime later I finally led it. I guess I'm just not one of those talented climbers who can easily climb hard sh#t my first or second try and I feel like I'm whimping out if I don't put my ego on the line from time to time by trying something that I know is gonna kick my ass (though sometimes I surprise myself). Anyways, I'm definitely not cool and I don't climb very hard, so don't listen to me. I am happy if I do send a project (I love saying "send" on ST) but I get along just fine when I don't. I suppose when in doubt, I stay in the safe zone, but I don't wanna stay there forever.
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