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Clif Bar drops sponsored athletes for free-soloing?

Original Post
Abram Herman · · Grand Junction, CO · Joined May 2009 · Points: 20

Seems pretty ridiculous, if it's true: rockandice.com/lates-news/h…

Mike Gilbert · · Bend, OR · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 21

Bummer, I liked that company

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425

that's like dropping a football player for playing football.

That's what those guys are KNOWN for.

Duh

Dan 60D5H411 · · Colorado Springs, CO · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 3,239

I'm kinda fat and out of shape. I climb 5.10 sport and trad but don't solo. I'm just what you're looking for Clif Bar....give me a call.

Vaughn · · Colorado · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 55

Clif bars are gross

marty funkhouser · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 20

Well, soloists don't need equipment beyond shoes and chalk so they have less of a need for sponsorship, right?

ton · · Salt Lake City · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 0

no comment on the main thrust of the article, but i find the Potter quote hysterical:

“My fear is with the onset of mainstream interest in extreme sports that diversity will be subdued and eventually snubbed out within our great outdoor community,” says Potter. “Shouldn’t we question when the leaders of our community try to manipulate our culture into a monocrop?”

what, you think Clif bar and other sponsors are leading climbing? maybe you're playing to the wrong audience...

ChuckSchick · · San Francisco, CA · Joined Mar 2013 · Points: 0

This feels like an Onion post.

ZANE · · Cleveland, OH · Joined May 2011 · Points: 20

I cant tell if this is real....... If it is I am disappoint.

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318

Well, they're no longer listed on the Clif Bar climbing team page. Idiotic decision IMO.

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
Vaughne wrote:Clif bars are gross
Tim Lutz wrote:Sugar packed crap for REI soccer moms.
I'd rather eat a black banana with fruit flies over a nasty ass cliff bar any day
mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

I think they are disgusting as well but I don't see this being a great idea. I wonder if the pack will still have someone climbing a classic steep route still?

Bill M · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 317

Sounds like I am in the minority, but I have always thought that commercially promoting soloing was wrong. This does not mean I think people should not solo – it is a person’s right to live their life as they see fit. However, having business executives in suits – Clif Bar is a $500M company - making money of people who are risking their life, seems - well – wrong.

A fellow taking about a recent death in an X Games event summed it up pretty well, "Sport was conceived as a means to improve body health and quality of life," Brookens said. "As currently practiced, the X Games appear designed to - for the competitors - maximize the potential risk and injury. Certainly the same athletic skills can be developed and displayed with less potential for harm, even permanent, to the athletes without sacrificing enjoyment for the spectator. In reality, this is all about risk, not about performance.” denverpost.com/ci_22495062/…

Fat Dad · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 60
Miike wrote: I'd rather eat a black banana with fruit flies over a nasty ass cliff bar any day
Let me know and we can arrange a trade.
M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
Fat Dad wrote: Let me know and we can arrange a trade.
you could put a naked chick on the wrapper and it would still suck

datavault.cmykmag.com/my_li…

farm6.staticflickr.com/5310…
rging · · Salt Lake City, Ut · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 210
ton wrote:no comment on the main thrust of the article, but i find the Potter quote hysterical: “My fear is with the onset of mainstream interest in extreme sports that diversity will be subdued and eventually snubbed out within our great outdoor community,” says Potter. “Shouldn’t we question when the leaders of our community try to manipulate our culture into a monocrop?” what, you think Clif bar and other sponsors are leading climbing? maybe you're playing to the wrong audience...
Isn't this the guy who was dropped for climbing Delicate Arch. What if had broken that thing? You know how many Utah license plates would have required replacing!
ton · · Salt Lake City · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 0

he also "invented" FreeBASE...

dude's been failing in his desperate attempts to play to the media pretty miserably the last several years.

Anson Call · · Reno, NV · Joined Jan 2010 · Points: 45
Bill M wrote:Sounds like I am in the minority, but I have always thought that commercially promoting soloing was wrong. This does not mean I think people should not solo – it is a person’s right to live their life as they see fit. However, having business executives in suits – Clif Bar is a $500M company - making money of people who are risking their life, seems - well – wrong.
+1, good point.

However, extreme sports companies have always sponsored athletes who put their lives at risk. There's even the expectation that a pro athlete should be willing to "go bigger" than everyone else. Individual athletes - especially ones in extreme sports - routinely expose themselves to extremely high-consequence risks that few business executives could really comprehend. As of today, it's up to the athletes themselves to make their own judgment on safety issues and not be swayed by pressure from a sponsor.

I see the amorality of waving fame, money, gear, and travel opportunities in people's faces and then asking them to huck themselves off cliffs. Just look at a list of pro skiers who have died on the job - it's longer than you'd like to think. Maybe some of them would still be alive if there wasn't monetary pressure to get their film part done or land the first ever triple-flippy-spinny thing. That said, I don't think it's wrong to support athletes who genuinely want to do those types of things of their own free will. How many of skiing's or climbing's great accomplishments never would have happened if a sponsor wasn't willing to support them?
ANGUS WIESSNER · · Denver Colorad · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,613

Cliff bars sucks ass and all those people are heros to me because off this I'll never perchase one again So lame. Chris Sharma should come out with a Sharma bar!!!

Adam Stackhouse · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 13,970

The company can take their coercion and shove it.

Bill M · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 317

Of course I am going to watch a Warren Miller film tonight so I can't be too self righteous 😄

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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