WHY DO YOU CLIMB?

I think that this about sums it up.

For the grades and recognition.

It's continually the hardest thing that I've ever done.

I once went 2 months climbing at Vedauwoo and didn't send anything clean... this was probably in 10 or 12 days over those two months. I just kept getting slapped down. Then at the end of the 2 month streak I onsighted an 11c trad line.

Nothing teaches you more about yourself than when you're run out on crappy gear way off the deck. Character building.. or more likely character discovery.

Climbing is how my wife and I identify ourselves and we'll both do it until we can't hang on any more.

I have ADD and it is one of the very few times I can concentrate on a single thing for any amount of time.

For the fame and fortune.

Cool!

Could never give you a specific answer as to why I climb. But now that I can't climb for a while I want to climb more than ever. I never thought of my self as an adrenaline junky, especially sense climbing is about calculated risks, but life with out these "risks" is just a little more dull. Maybe that's why I climb... As Derek Hersey said "Nothing makes me feel more alive."

(Oh and thanks for the quick laugh with that comic Olaf!)

to get box

Addison wrote:to get box

There's much easier ways, man. Not much funner though.

Joe Lee wrote:Looks like Yosemite.

Exactly what I was thinking! I guess I climb to scare myself, for an excuse to travel, to meet new people, etc... The list could go on and on, it's just too much fun not to!

I haven't figured it out yet. It just always seemed self-evident that it's a fucking awesome thing to do.

I started climbing at 51, 2 years ago, after a horrible divorce and a serious health issue. I decided it was time to start really living. I was never a good "athlete" before, but climbing lets me compete against myself. I've never had the feelings I have when I'm climbing, and I intend to climb for as long as I can.

I'll probably never climb better than 5.10, but in my mind that's as good as it ever needs to be to give me incredible joy. And it gives me a reason to work out as hard as I can, and I've never been in better shape.

Oh, and for the women.

It is bad ass.

Acceptable venue to wear bright colored lycra/spandex bibs.

I grew up with a pretty high fear level for heights, took me a long time to become a climber, I really don't know what the hell I'm doing up there.

because I can't sing or dance

BrianCS wrote:I started climbing at 51, 2 years ago, after a horrible divorce and a serious health issue. I decided it was time to start really living. I was never a good "athlete" before, but climbing lets me compete against myself. I've never had the feelings I have when I'm climbing, and I intend to climb for as long as I can.

I started climbing at 44, last year, also after a horrible divorce, but only because my new sweetheart persuaded me that I could. I have never been more scared and more proud of myself at the same time. I felt young and strong again and full of possibilities. I don't know how far I can go but I'll keep climbing.

It sounds like most people on MP climb for fun! Are there any people out there that are certified instructors or work at a climbing gym??

Maybe kinda relevant: I wrote a paper for school a long time ago on motivations for rock climbing. Basically I got email survey results back from several hundred climbers, mostly through various club mailing lists. They scored various reasons for climbing on a 5 point Likert scale. All of the results were then factor analyzed for underlying factors.

The results was that three pretty well correlated factors came out of the mix. The big one was something like risk, competitiveness and achievement reasons, the next one clumped together all of the social and teamwork aspects, and one clumped together doing something unique and being in nature/wilderness.

I forget how all of those factors correlated with experience level and age and such, but I remember that risk as a motivator went down quite a bit with years of experience.

Because I can. Who needs another reason?

Mt Woodson

Mostly, because I want to. Knowing that most people cannot climb past a 5.8 without a rope or some protection gives me small satisfaction.

to keep my mind from going bonkers while the snow season is out.