Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 35 of total 35 in this topic |
Alpenweg
Trad climber
St. Gallen Switzerland
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 18, 2009 - 11:08am PT
|
i live in switzerland where some of the climbing originated
here we have a club "swiss alpine club" if you are a non club type or large group person as i am, you are to do it all on your own
we have a climbing web site for gym climbers and boulders, not that it is negative to be a gym climber or a boulder
it is just hard to find a partner to do a long route with
but as for trad climbing not many people have the skills or motivation here to train themselves to learn, hell why do i want to place gear when i can clip a bolt
so alas i am a low end sport climber
my experience in california was one of encouragement and go for it attitude
this attitude wears off on one after being exposed long enough and thus you will find yourself going for it too! you can do it!!!!!!!!!
it is not cultural here not to give encouragement
here we do not high-line, we do not do much trail work and we diffidently will not let you climb with our group if u are alone
even if you ask nicely
i have never ran into such a bad vib in j.t or anywhere in the states for that matter
ok, (never) is a big word
i wish i were in kansas
alpenweg
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 12:15pm PT
|
alpenweg,
Come back!!
I have had a few good experiences with Euros and a few negative ones too. Definitely not so welcoming to "outsiders".
Come to New Mexico some day and we'll go trad til we puke!!
Bruce the old school used to be has been....
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 06:34pm PT
|
Alpenweg,
We have our little "clicks" that you can't break into sometimes too. Especially if you are new to an area and you happen to bump into someone that thinks they're the "cutting edge" dude, and he's got some sub-men attending to him...HA!!
But for the most part, I have been able to find a pretty warm welcome most places in the states, with good climbers willing to share their info and experience. But it sounds like you already know this.
Bruce
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 08:16pm PT
|
An american girl I was travelling with in Italy around 15 years ago snidely asked me if I noticed the difference between Swiss and Italian highway tunnels. She was living in Geneva so naturally she had more culture than a rube like me. When I confessed my ignorance in the matter she, rather haughtily,remarked that the Swiss tunnels were cleaned once a year whereas the Italian ones were left dirty. That affected my opinion of Swiss culture until I met David Fasel (sp?), that boy can let down and party, climbs hard to. I'm sure that there are others like David who you can hook up with. If not, come back for another visit. California is great but you should give Colorado/Utah a try to.
|
|
Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 08:28pm PT
|
When I lived in Geneva, Switzerland, we had somewhat the same problem, which we solved by climbing in France and Italy for the most part. In the 1970's still, women were not allowed to join the Swiss Alpine Club (or vote in most cantons) even though the second best climber in Switzerland was a woman who had just climbed the north face of the Matterhorn with her husband in winter. We joined the French Alpine Club instead and hung out in Chamonix. For ease of climbing partners and friendly attitude however, America can't be beat.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 08:55pm PT
|
I've known Swissies who decried the stuffiness there.
Good book on Suisse is John McPhee's "La Place de la
Concorde Suisse". (uh, despite the title it is in english)
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 09:31pm PT
|
Have they ever cleaned up anything in Colo/Ut? I haven't seen it, but it very well might have happened, by now, this far into the 21st century, back in the sticks....
The provences are still the midwest of thirty years ago. They still enable/encourage folks to smoke almost everywhere in those backwaters, yuck!!
get with it, y'all!
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 09:39pm PT
|
Jaybro! Gee wizz smoking in Colorado- healthiest State in the Union according to the stats. I like Wyoming too, got married there twice. It's a bit limited vis a vis rock climbing but it used to be fun to get into punch ups with cowboys- those dudes don't know how to fight.
|
|
Captain...or Skully
Social climber
way, WAY out there....(OMG)
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 09:41pm PT
|
Startin' to sound a bit like Hayduke there, Donini.....
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 09:45pm PT
|
Ah Captain!- referring to the distant past when I was young, dumb and full of....
|
|
Captain...or Skully
Social climber
way, WAY out there....(OMG)
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 10:00pm PT
|
I thought you'd like that, Jim.
|
|
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 10:01pm PT
|
How easy it is to find partners in a new place, or to break into the scene in a new place, isn't always dependent on the place. Sometimes it's you (or me or whomever is the new guy).
And any place with more than two climbers probably has more than one group or clique or whatever. Some might be closed, or populated with dickheads, but maybe others are open.
I've never climbed in Switzerland, but since this is the internet I'm completely free to spew about it, right? And my feeling is that it just ain't possible that every Swiss climber is a dickhead who hates newcomers/visitors/foreigners.
What I do know is that a lot of people have told me that Seattle is one of the worst (i.e. most closed and hard to break into) climbing scenes in the US. But when I moved here I found myself welcomed whereever I went, and never had trouble finding a partner.
I think it's a lot more complicated than just: "This place has a friendly scene and that place doesn't."
D
|
|
Captain...or Skully
Social climber
way, WAY out there....(OMG)
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 10:04pm PT
|
Yeah, but your fabulous red underwear is world renowned, now.
Maybe they were conspiring for a peek?
|
|
taorock
Trad climber
Okanogan, WA
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 11:09pm PT
|
Mr Donini,
That american girl Jane?
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 11:19pm PT
|
I dunno Jim, I have been married when i lived in Wyoming, but i never got married there, that's so, Hemingway...
and health (especially mental,) is all in the mind.
Actually, to get back on topic, the extended BAWC is about as good as climbing granfaloons get!
Stay tuned for steel cage match to the end, Donini v Scarpelli, the battle of the Italian stallions...
|
|
klk
Trad climber
cali
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2009 - 11:28pm PT
|
well, you're never a local if you weren't born there. your kids might be, but you won't. that was true where i was born, and it's true in most rural areas of the globe: france, austria, italy, southern illinois, name yr poison.
that said, the swiss were really nice to me. but it is switzerland. calvin. etc. easier to be anonymous and new in the metropolitan u.s. where everyone is a transient. and it sucks to be lonely in bad weather.
but dude, it's summertime. berner oberland, martigny, grindelwald, etc. world is yr osyter. tirol and dolos are a short drive. cote d'azur is just not that far. even in sui, the food is pretty good compared to most of the us. do you really want to eat curry pizza?
bouldering at furka pass. climbing at, well, anywhere. hiking everywhere. those kute girlz yodelling. the catholic regions. join the frickin sac.
yeah, it ain't spain or italy or even the tirol, but jet keep tellin yerself: julia child learned to cooj in switzerland.
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 12:00am PT
|
cooj?
|
|
dogtown
climber
Cheyenne,Wyoming
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 03:34am PT
|
Donini v Scarpelli,
Scarpelli win's, sorry man, he's just to bad ass. Hell I don't think I can do it,and I play in his playground.
|
|
Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 04:10am PT
|
Thanks to Donini's contribution about climber-cowboy dust ups, I now understand my reception when I landed at the airport outside of Jackson Hole in 1972.
Just coming from Europe, I assumed there'd be some public transportation from a regional airport to the National Park. No such luck, so I decided to hitchhike. I think to myself - I'm 28 years old, in great shape and not bad looking, and a girl, so it should be no problem to get a ride. I didn't realize that my big pack with ice axe and crampons tied to the back would be such a handicap. To my amazement, car load after car load of drunk cowboys cruised by throwing empty beer cans at me and shouting insults. No rides.
Finally, a Park ranger came by and let me in, saying it was strictly illegal for him to give me a ride in a Park vehicle, but he felt sorry for me! I was delivered to the climber's campground and straight away, I met a couple of interesting guys, neither one into particularly hard climbing, so we did the Grand together via the tourist route and they delivered me to the airport on my way to Mt. Ranier.
Moral of the story? Most, but not all Americans are friendly to climbers, and at least the reserved Swiss will never throw things at you!
|
|
ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
the ground up
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 04:18am PT
|
survival , sick pic . even those boulders under the tree would be full or part-time work for me .
|
|
dogtown
climber
Cheyenne,Wyoming
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 04:19am PT
|
Oh, one more thing; If Scarpelli lived in the Valley for any kind of time, The climbing names in the world as we all know it would be much different. This Crag He call’s home is extremely difficult. I came out here thirteen years ago thinking I was the shizz and his stuff blew my mind. I ran into him last year at Crow Creek boulders pumping out the problem Process of Belief, V7 5.13b the dude is older than me! And still has a sh#t load of steam left in him. He’s a f*#king power house! Not to mention a nut!
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 05:07am PT
|
I wrastled with Bob once, and I am proud to say that with my five inch height advantage, I was able to keep him from getting me all the way into a garbage can!
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 11:47am PT
|
I wouldn't do battle with Scarpelli if I had a fully loaded Uzi and he had his hands tied behind his back.
|
|
scooter
climber
fist clamp
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 12:38pm PT
|
Donini-
in '72 the cowboys probably make a mistake brawling with you, considering you were a differnt type of professional not long before that. HA!
|
|
hooblie
climber
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 02:25pm PT
|
jaybro, PERFECTLY executed!
jan, i've enjoyed your posts here and nominate you for the "most undersold, richest potential" award. my heart sank and the little voice in me wailed at the injustice when i got to the part about your fracture in the course of belaying. there are some thuds embedded in the story of this tribe that should not go quietly into the night. i hope you continue to step up and command the podium with your authentic contributions.
|
|
bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 03:00pm PT
|
flag posse rolls deep, hard, and tight.
|
|
nick farley
climber
bishop
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 05:42pm PT
|
Get with the program. Let's break it down by country, Euro style.
French climbers think they invented climbing and so they are at the top of the EGO system.
Germans are willing to die trying so maybe they're first in the summit or die system.
Swiss have it all figured out... as far as, well, everything. They rate first in the actually getting up something catagory.
Italians get the women. Who needs climbing when you are scoring anyway?
The Brits can hang on a long time, plus they are actually fun to hang out with.
Spainish climbers usually have hash. That makes them the coolest of the bunch.
Seriously: The trick is not in figuring out the different clicks in the climbing community, the trick is figuring out in
which click you belong. This one, that one, doesn't matter. Just join in the fun. That's the point.
|
|
hooblie
climber
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 07:13pm PT
|
i'll throw in with the brits. walking thru camp four i kept an ear peeled for the british accents and diverted into camp everytime. those guys were funny just as a baseline condition. never earned their respect in the department of drinking, will always regret not traveling to great britain when i had a chance to make up for it on the crags. more than just the humor, there's something to be said for reveling in each other's company and hunching the shoulders often so the chips don't pile up
|
|
Rob_James
Ice climber
Aoraki/Mt. Cook Village, New Zealand
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 09:23pm PT
|
The hardmen of the Tatra and Julian Alps are the most gregarious I've met
Pons are fantastic and generally funny self-effacing and keen to share space or move to the side if you're moving a little quicker.
The Chamonix natives are tough at first, but once they've warmed to you (if you leave 'their' women alone it takes about 3 months) - solid mates to the end. Despite the temperment though, if you spray without actually having done anything you'll be rightly ridiculed
The Italians in Courmayear - whatever dudes. What desperado heads to the bar with his sleeping bag between his knees. We love Bonatti, but are the rest (as has been said) climbers that love to f@!k or f'ers that like to climb.
Camp 4 was once the easiest place to find lads keen for a multi-pitch push. Oncev climbing' true Mecca. Alas the place seems quiet right now - when once everyone was up at 05:00 and climbing till dark. This summer it's been mostly posers impressing 'families' with "yeah I'm a climber" (but I'm really only here to boulder and meander the base of routes reading my topos)
And well, I've always managed to find partners in Leysin and the Oberland - you just gotta stick your hand-out rather than waiting for others to smile first
We are mighty keen for Int'l guests down my way. A warm welcome is always guaranteed
|
|
'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2009 - 10:29pm PT
|
Dude! What the hell you doing in Switzerland? Sell your assets, become a dirtbag, and move to the Centre of the Universe - Yosemite Valley, and in particular the El Cap Bridge.
Why are you wasting your time in Europe when you belong with us?
Now - go buy yourself a plane ticket, and we'll see you in September for a beer, eh?
|
|
Alpenweg
Trad climber
St. Gallen Switzerland
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2009 - 03:08am PT
|
thanks
repl to pass the piton pete
thanks for the reminder i will be there next year
alpenweg
|
|
Curt
Boulder climber
Gilbert, AZ
|
|
|
Jul 22, 2009 - 03:12am PT
|
"...well, you're never a local if you weren't born there..."
Then you're pretty much screwed outside of WI.
Curt
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Jul 22, 2009 - 03:38am PT
|
My own climbing community kicks ass!!!111™
For the last couple of months or so, I've gotten together every three says or so with various elements of the extended BAWC, to climb wide woodies, put up new routes, do early repeats, Climb, cracks, slabs, granite, volcanics and the Franciscan formation, also create new T-shirt designs, Get computer modification, beta, etc. all in an impossibly supportive, granfalloon.
One More Scarpellis story he told me and assured me was true.
New year's eve, the 'Million dollar Cowboy bar™', Jackson hole wyo.
Bob was quietly perched on his saddle nursing a beverage, When two couples from jersey decked out in appropriate Western wear™ from a nearby 'Drugstore' take the saddles by him.
Bob apprises his neighbor.
"That's a purdy hat, wanna arm wrastle for it?"
The horrified Joiseyites couldn't flee to the 20º below, 'warmth' on the square, fast enough...
Further news Flash Bob told me that he was quoting a John Wayne Movie, when christened the then potential world's hardest offwidth, Belly full of bad Berries.
Could be.
But the other day on the hundredth viewing of 'Cat Ballou' I heard the line where Kid Shaleen (Lee Marvin in an Oscar winning performence, beat Omar shariff's fake russian ass in Dr Zhivago) says," I don't wanna die with a bellyfull of bad booze!"
Could it be?
Bob will always be part of MY climbing community!
Even though I was born in Chicago and currently live in California....
|
|
Haggis
Trad climber
Scotland
|
|
|
Jul 22, 2009 - 05:32am PT
|
Alpenweg
I am always looking for people to climb with, come to Scotland for a winter break and we can wait out the weather in a high corrie or go sea cliff climbing in feb(because there's no snow and its 10 above) and watch the seals .
Regarding Euro style. I have found it rewarding after you have broken the ice (which can take a few weeks) esp if you are prepared to try and speak the lingo however climbing in Europe climbing is split very much into people who climb in the mountains and those who don't so be sure you know which group you want to be with otherwise you will end up clipping bolts in wales or bouldering in font rather than cruising long routes on an Alp.
In the UK climbing is "trendy" and we have a lot of people with all the gear and no idea however the real guys are great to hang out with after they know you a little, with the exception of Glaswegians who will climb with you before you introduce yourself.
good luck!
|
|
klk
Trad climber
cali
|
|
|
Jul 22, 2009 - 11:27am PT
|
"'...well, you're never a local if you weren't born there...'"
Then you're pretty much screwed outside of WI.
Curt"
Actually, it was Southern Illinois. Fortunately, there's good bouldering there.
|
|
| Messages 1 - 35 of total 35 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!