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jamesnater
Apr 23, 2012, 9:52 PM
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Tell a story about your experiences, good or bad, funny, embarassing, whatever.
I'd have some stories, but everyone I've invited has bailed. Leaving me with no one to climb with for the day. Occasionally I'll get a call later on, "hey man, let's go grab a beer! What? You went climbing by yourself anyway?! oh..."
*le sigh*
I need more friends that are psyched on climbing...
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sungam
Apr 24, 2012, 12:12 AM
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You have non-climber friends?
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ChessRonin
Apr 24, 2012, 6:00 AM
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sungam wrote: You have non-climber friends?
You're using the wrong term; they are recruiting projects.
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Kartessa
Apr 24, 2012, 6:17 AM
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sungam wrote: You have non-climber friends?
I don't understand
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markc
Apr 24, 2012, 7:13 AM
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We tried to take my friend Chuck climbing several times. He expressed interest in at least coming out and taking pictures, so we thought there was a good chance. We were hanging out one night, and told him he should come the next day. He said, "I'm not mentally prepared." We thought that was an odd response since it would be a casual day out, but let it go.
A week or two later, we started making plans a few days in advance. Great, that would give Chuck more time to get ready. Nope, he still wasn't mentally prepared. A few more invites and rejections followed. It's been 13 years or more, and Chuck isn't quite mentally prepared yet.
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shockabuku
Apr 24, 2012, 7:30 AM
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About half of the people I have taken climbing are one time things. It doesn't help to put them on routes that are too hard for them. And sometimes it's hard to remember what a first time climber is, and isn't, capable of.
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jamesnater
Apr 24, 2012, 7:37 AM
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sungam wrote: You have non-climber friends?
Yeah, before I started climbing, I skated for 11 years. I also got into cars for a while. And I'm also an avid pot smoker, so I have those friends too. lol
My friends that climb, just don't seem as psyched as I do about climbing. Guess I need more dirtbag friends haha.
There IS this one girl I got into climbing, who got one of her close friends into climbing too. So now they go climbing indoors at the gym all the time (she's probably never going to climb outdoors). She's a bit annoying and spews out beta for EVERY move even if you don't need it. But she caught the itch, which is pretty sick, but she's still annoying, and that really sucks. lol
And one of my best friends who says he climbs because he owns shoes and a harness, will only come with me to climbs when there is little to no approach.
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njrox
Apr 24, 2012, 7:40 AM
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When I first started climbing everybody thought it was so cool and wanted to come along. When I started inviting people to actually go, hardly anybody followed through. I've brought plenty of friends to the gym, some once others went a handful of times. Nobody stuck with it. I've taken a couple people outside. Either they were too scared (30 ft Top Rope), or unwilling to buy their own equipment (climbing in sneakers, swapping harnesses with whoever is not climbing). It's ok. My friends have their "things" that don't interest me either. I've had to branch out in order to find partners and that's been cool. My two best partners are my wife, and one of my closest friends. Besides them I've picked up a few partners/friends and it's been worth it.
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lena_chita
Moderator
Apr 24, 2012, 7:52 AM
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There is a reason why they are your "non-climber" friends. Keep it that way.
When I first started climbing, I wanted every one of my friends to come and try it, too. Climbing was so much FUN!!! Surely they would see it, too? Nope!
Only a couple of friends even made it to the gym.
Most of the ones who said they wanted to go kept coming up with various excuses, until I got the point.
And out of the ones that went, only one came back more than once, and even she never really caught the bug, it was more of a social thing, and after a few months she drifted off.
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caughtinside
Apr 24, 2012, 8:02 AM
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ChessRonin wrote: sungam wrote: You have non-climber friends? You're using the wrong term; they are recruiting projects.
This does not work. They might all give it a try to humor you and out of curiousity for your enthusiasm but if they aren't pumped on it right away you're wasting your time.
Here's my story:
I had been climbing for like 2 years, just enough to be really dangerous. I took my non climber girlfriend out to toprope some mellow routes in the blazing sun. The granite was boiling hot, but I didn't know any better. All ten pads on her fingers and thumbs blistered off. hahaha!!! I can laff about it now.
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cracklover
Apr 24, 2012, 8:21 AM
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The morning of my wedding, I took my best man and his wife up a tower in Garden of the Gods. It's a thin spire, all easy moves, but super-exposed the whole way up. Oh, and it's two pitches, so that adds to the excitement.
She made it to the top of the first pitch, and had had enough, so we lowered her down. He made it up to the top, and boy was he gripped!
And it helped calm my nerves for the rest of the day.
G
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skurdeycat
Apr 24, 2012, 9:13 AM
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I WAS that non-climbing friend, now 20 years later, the "climber" who introduced me couldn't be paid to come climbing.
Skurdey
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edge
Apr 24, 2012, 9:20 AM
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I have had three aquaintances in the last year ask me to take them out climbing, and I answered them all with a firm "No."
I am not your guide/teacher/mentor. My time outdoors is too precious to waste chuffing up beginner climbs, checking knots and harnesses, and all the accompanying BS. Come to think of it, I even turned my sister down when she asked me to take her. I'll see her at Christmas...
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vinnie83
Apr 24, 2012, 9:30 AM
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cracklover wrote: The morning of my wedding, I took my best man and his wife up a tower in Garden of the Gods. It's a thin spire, all easy moves, but super-exposed the whole way up. Oh, and it's two pitches, so that adds to the excitement. She made it to the top of the first pitch, and had had enough, so we lowered her down. He made it up to the top, and boy was he gripped! And it helped calm my nerves for the rest of the day. G
Guessing that was montezuma's tower? Fun climb! I've taken several non-climbers on it and some of them even kept climbing after, but I think all of them got a little shaky sitting on top with a leg on each side of the flake while I was setting up the rappel .
A little off topic, but a family friend got married in estes park, co many years ago and decided to go ice climbing the morning of the wedding. Needless to say everyone was waiting in the church for a few hours for the groom and the other guys in the wedding party to show up. When I got married at the same church last year my rack and rope mysteriously disappeared the day before the wedding.
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cracklover
Apr 24, 2012, 9:47 AM
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vinnie83 wrote: cracklover wrote: The morning of my wedding, I took my best man and his wife up a tower in Garden of the Gods. It's a thin spire, all easy moves, but super-exposed the whole way up. Oh, and it's two pitches, so that adds to the excitement. She made it to the top of the first pitch, and had had enough, so we lowered her down. He made it up to the top, and boy was he gripped! And it helped calm my nerves for the rest of the day. G Guessing that was montezuma's tower? Fun climb! I've taken several non-climbers on it and some of them even kept climbing after, but I think all of them got a little shaky sitting on top with a leg on each side of the flake while I was setting up the rappel . A little off topic, but a family friend got married in estes park, co many years ago and decided to go ice climbing the morning of the wedding. Needless to say everyone was waiting in the church for a few hours for the groom and the other guys in the wedding party to show up. When I got married at the same church last year my rack and rope mysteriously disappeared the day before the wedding.
Montezuma's is right! And yeah, it was fun! Continuing to go off topic, btw, I was back with plenty of time to pick up and put together the cake. Here's a pic of the finished product:
GO
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olderic
Apr 24, 2012, 10:34 AM
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Nicely built.
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wmshub
Apr 24, 2012, 10:59 AM
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I recently got into rock climbing. A friend of mine was a climber years ago, so I figured, hey he'll probably be willing to go to the gym with me, right? Nope. His excuse was "I've gotten really into R/C helicopters lately, and I don't have time for that and rock climbing."
Uhhhh...yeah. Look, if you don't want to climb with me that's fine, but at least come up with a real excuse.
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jamesnater
Apr 24, 2012, 12:03 PM
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Yeah I'm starting to see it now. A lot of the guys and gals I invite typically give an excuse not to go.
I don't know, in my head I keep thinking "why the hell would they NOT like it?!" But clearly everyone is different.
I consider myself extremely socially awkward, so meeting new climbers and climbing with those I've only just met can be very difficult for me, though I am trying, haha.
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markc
Apr 24, 2012, 12:53 PM
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I took my twin brother climbing when I was fairly new to it myself. (A bad idea, but we lived to tell the tale.) He wore really baggy clothes and busted a sag then. I gave him a harness and showed him how to put it on. I told him to really tighten it down, then set about putting on my harness. When I went to check him out, there was an insane amount of slack. I snugged it down tight and told him not to mess with anything.
He's afraid of heights, and I didn't have enough experience to know how to handle it. I should have had him sit back in the harness close to the ground, lowered him from 10-15' to get him used to it, etc. Instead, I belayed him the whole way up an easy climb. He topped out despite my protests, and insisted he was going to walk down. I had to explain that we were climbing on a detached block, and that walking off wasn't an option for him.
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jamesnater
Apr 24, 2012, 2:31 PM
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Yeah, that is the coolest wedding cake I've seen! The cake even goes on gear, haha!
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Traches
Apr 25, 2012, 11:47 PM
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edge wrote: I have had three aquaintances in the last year ask me to take them out climbing, and I answered them all with a firm "No." I am not your guide/teacher/mentor. My time outdoors is too precious to waste chuffing up beginner climbs, checking knots and harnesses, and all the accompanying BS. Come to think of it, I even turned my sister down when she asked me to take her. I'll see her at Christmas...
Having made exactly that mistake I can see your point, but never? Not even family? You're kind of a jerk.
But hey, I actually like my family (which is unusual, apparently).
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sungam
Apr 26, 2012, 5:22 AM
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blueeyedclimber wrote: sungam wrote: You have non-climber friends? We call them "winter friends."  Josh
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notapplicable
Apr 26, 2012, 12:04 PM
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I got in to climbing along with my brother and three other friends. We pretty much just went out and taught ourselves. Eight years later I'm the only one who still climbs regularly. Two of them have quit altogether and the other two only go out 2-3 times a year, if that often.
I've also taken other friends climbing along the way and none took to it. Statistically speaking, it's pretty much a waste of time taking your existing friends climbing if what you're looking for is a longterm partner. It can be fun but don't expect them to love it like you do. They almost certainly won't.
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