An open letter to a certain rude aid climber ... (edited title)

Ben F wrote:I wonder if people's comments on this are similar to their attitudes while driving. That is, maybe we now know who sits their ass in the left lane on the highway and doesn't pass.

+1

hahahha
i thought mexican crack was going to be some classic 5.14 by the way ye are all ranting about it..I had to look it up, i was a little disappointed...
Maybe Price had been waiting years to get the nerve to send it.. then some rude aid climber spoiled his mind set for the on sight....
I sat at a belay for 7 hours waiting for some "aid climber" to do a pitch before.... but i had beer so it wasent so bad......
chill lads its a bit of rock at the end of the day,.. it will be there tomorrow........

As one who was there last night and saw the perpetrators I will give my opinion. We too considered Mexican Crack. I was bewildered that someone would leave all their gear in the crack while practicing aid on the slab below.

• For some of the people who don’t know the logistics of this climb, it is a diagonaling crack. The aid climbing was well below and away from the actual crack.

In fact they were basically on a slab climb that shares the anchors of Mexican Crack about 35 feet away from the start of Mexican Crack. BUT they chose to leave their gear sewn up the crack so it was un-climbable to anyone else (So they were actually hogging 2 routes!). If it was me, and I decided that that was the best place to practice aid, I would have cleaned my gear and allowed other parties to climb the crack. They could easily share the anchor and rappel to the side. The aid climbers would have not been inconvenienced in any way. It is not a question of rules, as there are none. Rather, it is a question of that party’s courtesy to other climbers in the area. It is true that the early bird gets the worm but c’mon! Can’t we all just get along?!

Climb the line and:
a. clip their gear or
b. take it out and marvel at the immense amount of booty you're getting.
It will get the dude off his TR faster than you thought he'd ever be able to move.

That sucks, I hate when that happens! But stop the entitlement mentality. Get there first or find another climb!

if the guy learning to aid/jug had an awesome time, good for him! If you helped ruin their time, shame on you.

Harold Lampasso wrote:That sucks, I hate when that happens! But stop the entitlement mentality. Get there first or find another climb!

This is the best post.

Was the guy rude? Yes, probably.

Is that guy going to take your "open letter" telling him "nobody likes you" to heart? No.

Do you have a right to any climb? No.

Do you have a right to dictate his actions? No

SO...
Point well taken about not being rude...

BUT...
Lay off the personal BS and lofty position.

Evan

I just want know if it goes Clean, or if you have to hammer. Can you do it in a day or would it be a good first bivy. This is a great time of year to bivy and take in the burning brakes smells wafting up the canyon.

Herein lies the difference between something being 'wrong,' so to speak, and merely 'inconsiderate.'
"First come first served" isn't 'wrong,' but then again, it might be 'inconsiderate.' (AKA: Rude.) But what are you going to do abou that?

So yeah, entitlement is a strange thing. Most people will side the entitlement with what works out best for them.

Ben F wrote:I wonder if people's comments on this are similar to their attitudes while driving. That is, maybe we now know who sits their ass in the left lane on the highway and doesn't pass.

And who sits in the left lane behind them bitching instead of going around on the right...
And who rides the ass of the people who are in teh left lane instead of going around ot the right.
And who stays in the left on purpose, just to piss off the guy who is riding his ass.

There was a great Gary Larson cartoon called The Far Side. In one a god figure is standing over a globe with empty salt-shaker looking things that say "White" "Black "Yellow" and "Brown" set to one side and is presently shaking tiny people out of one that says "Jerks" onto the same globe. The title of the cartoon was: "Just to keep it interesting."

Hey price... i have a pot of soup at home... do you think you could go stir that up for me to?

just enjoying the dust you have shaken up!

Price,
I couldn't care less if you like my grammar. I'm not an English major. I would have replied to your comment sooner, but I was out climbing on this beautiful day. You are right about teaching aid on a free climb, but you came off like an ass, so I replied like one. Shame on me, but I'm just known as another "bi-polar manic depressant" who doesn't keep up with his meds. If someone is an ass to me then look out because that's all the excuse I normally need to be one back. Sorry; but that is the way it is, not too much I can do about it but try harder next time. Peace =)

I think we should all have suction-tipped "asshole-flag arrows" with some high-tech glue that requires you to explain what you did to some arbiter before being given the solvent to remove it. I really want this for traffic, 3 or more flags means you get pulled over and a "wtf!?!" from the cop. But it would come in handy here too.

The 1960's called, they want their single pitch aid climbing style back.

+1 for price.

Sam Feuerborn wrote: Really Greg? I'm surprised no one else jumped on this. Is this a staying neutral statement? Just thought that was funny.

Glad someone is paying attention.

Wehling wrote: +1

Glad someone else is paying attention.

In a free society we live under a basic premise. You are free to do as you please as long as you don't harm anyone else's life, liberty or property. If my neighbor collects junk cars and I believe that their yard looks like shit, that appearance is subject to my beliefs. No factual harm has been done to my life, liberty or property. But, if my neighbor's junk cars are leaking diesel fuel into the water supply, then he is doing harm.

Likewise, if someone takes 7 million years to climb said "classic free line" I may not like it. But, no harm is being done to my life, liberty or property. I must suck it up.

Fucking children.

Fucking children.

host2,
You seem to be an authority on the subject.

I love it how on the internet, you can take the most clearcut, most easily defensible moral position, and people will STILL disagree with you. I saw this thread title on the front page, and instantly thought "hey, I bet some aid douche was hogging a classic free route!" I was assuming it would be Moonlight Buttress or something, it's even funnier that it was Mexican Crack.

Of the dozens of climbers whom I know and hang out with, I cannot think of ONE who would think that this is not very lame behavior. Yet here we are, arguing about it. This is almost as amusing as the past Lost City debacle, until I realize that people actually THINK this shit.