[I'm right and you're wrong. I sincerely want your honest feedback. Without it, I have no way to explain to you why you are wrong about me. I'm really not a pretentious, narcissistic n00b. If you would kindly give me some constructive criticism on my deep, meaningful blog, I will happily explain to you why.]

Here's our fearful leader only 2 years ago.. being guided up 5.8 with a 20 fucking pound pack? wtf do you need that weighs 20lbs exactly...
[image]http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/readerblogs/greg_burns/gregburns-cannon-jeremiah-37.jpg[/image]



exactly what weighs 20 lbs.. while being guided up a 5.7 5 pitch route? i mean it's Cannon not Denali

Woohoo! Now lemme go get some popcorn...

Here's our fearful leader only 2 years ago.. being guided up 5.8 with a 20 fucking pound pack? wtf do you need that weighs 20lbs exactly...




exactly what weighs 20 lbs.. while being guided up a 5.7 5 pitch route? i mean it's Cannon not Denali

I think you might want to read that again. You've got some of the facts wrong.

-I wasn't being guided, we swapped leads.
-We were a little gun shy from our last experience.
-It was our second time on the biggest cliff in the northeast.
-We had more than we needed.

It might be helpful if you climbed there before you commented so that way you were speaking from a position of knowledge.

I know this had been brought up before, but I recall years ago when someone else on this site was talking about being a "guide," and jt512 said something to the effect of "Does anyone else remember when being a 'guide' meant that you had to be able to free solo 5.9 in the rain in approach shoes? Now it just refers to anyone who can set up a toprope for a youth group." Still rings true.

High hopes for this thread. And no, I am not going to read the original blorg post.

My new netflix hasn't come in yet, so I'm hoping this can be a backup.

I officially feel like I could solo most 5.10's

One of the climbs I lead in Elevenmile was a nice 5.10a called Life on the Run. The first half was easy, the total climb being only a little over 50 feet tall. Despite the easy first half I crammed the second half with more gear than necessary. I onsighted the climb but I couldn't bring myself to crawl more than a foot above my gear.

Then outside of Leadville on a straight flat portion of road I sped up. I didn't know how fast I was going or what the speed limit was. I was on that fine edge of control that climbers are very familiar with but most people are lucky to have dealt with once in their lives.

I have a terrible habit of putting the pedal to the floor

The true dangers of my life are unfortunately at the hands of others.

At this point the mother stopped and said something so degrading that she might as well of slapped me in the face, "I'm losing confidence, you seemed so confident before, but it doesn't seem like you know where you're going and if you don't know where you are going then how will you know which climbs will be safe." At this point I wished she had slapped me in the face, it would have been easier to maintain a smile. See when you're a guide you must seem invincible, even if you are not. You must have unwavering confidence, gumption, and seemingly boundless reserves of strength and energy. It's a delicate balance. You must seem confident but not brash. Energetic but not manic. While maintaining a firmly dominant upper hand you cannot come off as overbearing. Chiding clients with beta it's hard to not sound condescending and in the end I must maintain an even keel of my temper while promoting their enjoyment and complete safety while taking serious risks to my own health throughout most of the day.

I did not lose my smile though. I calmly explained the many years I had been climbing and the fact that I would not put her daughter in any danger I would not expose myself to. Luckily she didn't know that I am an avid risk taker and that a risk I would take would not be one which she would want her daughter exposed.

The true dangers of my life are unfortunately at the hands of others.

The person who dropped me told me to send him the medical bills and he would pay for them.

Luckily she didn't know that I am an avid risk taker and that a risk I would take would not be one which she would want her daughter exposed.

so exactly in your "many years of(bullshit) experience" you didnt figure out that you didn't need 20 lbs of useless shit to climb 5 pitches in a day? how screwed up is your system that it takes you that long. Climbing steadily and making good decisions keeps you from getting screwed. Perhaps multipitch isn't for you.

I officially feel like I could solo most 5.10's

Jake, for context, which both of us have noted above (and so did my blog post on my recent Cannon trip), we took the extra stuff because we wanted to hike to the summit after climbing, and when we had tried to do that a few weeks before we got caught in a nasty rain storm without extra gear. When we got caught in the rain after climbing Lakeview we only had our climbing gear (and water, food, etc). A few weeks later, when we brought the pack on WG, it was because we didn't want to get blasted by another rain storm and because we knew it was going to be a long day, which it was.

Considering those two routes were both the first time either of us had been on Cannon, I would have expected there to be some sort of adventure. Even for excellent climbers it is a very unpredictable mountain.

Jake, for context, which both of us have noted above (and so did my blog post on my recent Cannon trip), we took the extra stuff because we wanted to hike to the summit after climbing, and when we had tried to do that a few weeks before we got caught in a nasty rain storm without extra gear.

[Oh my god.

Jay

Yeah, that was thought number 1.

Thought number 2 was: Gee, maybe i should start calling myself a guide? I only got lost on my way to the crag once, and that was the place I've never been to ... If Imanage to find a crag that I have been to before, I'm 90% there as far as my guiding credentials go.

It might be helpful if you climbed there before you commented so that way you were speaking from a position of knowledge.

"I'm losing confidence, you seemed so confident before, but it doesn't seem like you know where you're going and if you don't know where you are going then how will you know which climbs will be safe."

This speaks volumes. Rule 1 in guiding is know your area. Have it dialed. I show up as much as an hour before the client arrives to have things ready and setup. I know how to keep the pace going to eliminate possible down time. The worst thing you can do with a client is to not no where you're going or having them sit around while you figure out what to do.

If you are unclear about an area, go out the day before and dial the area in.

please stop taking anyone but Greg out climbing... immediately. you are a danger to yourself and the people who think you have a clue as to what you are doing.

Agreed. This quote made my jaw drop. Jerimiah's attempts to make himself look like a hardcore risk taker makes me sick, and is certainly not someone that I'll ever rope up with.

Yet epics and injuries seem to follow you both everywhere. A pattern like that is not good. A decision process doesn't seem to be working.

Yea.. i won't tie in with either of them.. Getting lost, hurt, benighted, especially on a regular basis does not fit into my partner criteria. And certainly doesn't make you look cool or hardcore. it makes you sound unsafe and stupid