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General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Grampians Access 20-Feb-2019 At 12:48:08 PM One Day Hero

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On 20-Feb-2019 Duang Daunk wrote:.
>Modern consumer sell-out climbing started with gyms and progressed to
>sport drilling outdoors. I've never been completely comfortable with that
>reality and suspect that you have at least changed your mind, if you ever
>were comfortable with it.

It started creeping in even earlier, with magazines, sponsored climbers, guiding as a 'career'. I was never interested in working in 'the industry' because it's always been very apparent that earning a living from pumping ever more people out onto the crags we claim to love would inevitably lead to a conflict of interest.

>You are confusing your dinosaurs, as the real dinosaurs - often disparagingly
>referred to as tradsters, knew their craft and showed respect, but far
>from business as usual it is the new wave end of your era crew that are
>running their new business amok where they shouldn't be.

A dinosaur is any species which has outlived the era in which its way of life was viable. The same way that society entrusts doctors to take driving licences off old people, we should be gently taking drills away from old farts who have lost the plot.

>More power to gremlin, but will you still be lauding the rebellion when
>say the likes of Taipan is put off limits?

That's the hard fuchin' question, isn't it? I would be bummed if we aren't allowed to climb on the best cliffs in the world anymore. But then I'm already bummed that while we have been allowed to climb there, some people abuse the privilege by shitting all over everything (metaphorically and literally).

I don't know the answer. The old trajectory was heading for the heart of the sun, hopefully things will get shaken to shit and settle onto a more rational, sustainable path.