Judge My Climbing Tattoos

You had me at the gote, obvs ❤️

Mine are all Greek, Hebrew and Latin text. My only climbing-related one is an indirect reference to the Sharks Fin.

However, in a greater sense, all of my tattoos are climbing tattoos. They have no choice in the matter; I climb and they accompany me. 53 of the past 71 days on the road, most recently.

I think people should just just tattoo OH MY GOD PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO ME on their foreheads and be done with it

I’m not a tattoo guy but I appreciate that people are. I like the diversity among people. It would be boring if we were all the same. But I have yet to see a face tattoo or really even a neck tattoo that I thought wasn’t weird. 

I also like the goat and piton. The artistry of the Muir one is great but I wouldn’t want anyone but someone close to me on my body. You need a carabiner. The figure 8 knot is not self explanatory to me. A knot split by hugs and kisses?

If anyone ever wants to feel good about themselves google “worst tattoos” and feel good about your life choices. 

Marc801 C wrote:

Some of those are nice, but I find the sheer number ot them disturbing.

Honestly, me too sometimes. Being heavily tattooed is a weird experience, where 99.99% of the time you’re not thinking about your tattoos at all, but sometimes you catch yourself in the mirror after a shower and you say to yourself, “What the heck is all this crap?” and then you tumble down the memory hole a bit to re-emerge a new creature.

Derek F wrote:

All the tats remind me of the movie Memento. Eric, did you get lost in the mountains, lose all memory of how you got there, and the tattoos are clues for retracing your steps back to society?

Hahaha I think some of my tattoos are so esoteric they couldn’t possibly help me at all if I lost my memory.

Salamanizer Ski wrote:

Let’s see what they look like in 30 years, then we’ll pass judgment.

I’ll be pretty psyched if I make it through my next 30 years with my health and happiness, so get at me then and tell me how you really feel ;) Get a tattoo man, it’s only flesh.

Sofa King Watt wrote:

Cool tats! The ladder? Meh, but hey, you do you. What I want to know, is what’s up with the naked chick with no legs and mushrooms growing out of her cooch?!

The ladder is really just a filler tattoo, nothing else quite fit that spot. The woman with the fungus cooch(lol) is from an event that a local tattoo shop held to donate money to LI Against Domestic Violence. They had ten or so designs to choose from and all proceeds went to charity. It’s kind of an excuse to get tattooed and feel like it wasn’t an entirely selfish thing.

Max R wrote:

How about we don’t make this a thing. 

P.S - John Muir was actually a racist dickbag.

John Muir, like many, many racist men and women before him, from all creeds and races, mind you, shaped the world that you live in today, for better or worse. In this case, for the better, if you’ve ever visited a single national park. Judging the morality of the past by the morality of today is a bit silly. All you can do is try as hard as you might to be better than those that came before you, and if you’re being honest, you’ll likely find yourself failing way more often than you want to admit.

Greg Davis wrote:

I really wanted to flame you but these are dope. Life ain’t that precious get some cool shit inked on ya and live it up 

Thanks dude rock on!

F r i t z wrote:

You had me at the gote, obvs ❤️

Mine are all Greek, Hebrew and Latin text. My only climbing-related one is an indirect reference to the Sharks Fin.

However, in a greater sense, all of my tattoos are climbing tattoos. They have no choice in the matter; I climb and they accompany me. 53 of the past 71 days on the road, most recently.

Post it! This is a very cool take, they’re all climbing tattoos.

John RB wrote:

I think people should just just tattoo OH MY GOD PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO ME on their foreheads and be done with it

I haven't climbed out west for years but in the east its definitely still the rage. Similar to driving a Subaru and wearing a carhart beanie, its almost the norm now.

Great post!

John RB wrote:

I think people should just just tattoo OH MY GOD PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO ME on their foreheads and be done with it

What's wrong with people liking having conversation starters on their bodies? I swear to god if someone isn't an old man that lives alone and never makes eye contact with anyone and resents having any conversation ever this place will find a way to pathologize one's behavior. 

Some people are stoked on tattoos, some people aren't. You can recognize something isn't for you, ignore it, and continue about your day without being an ass, you know. 

"People are enjoying things wrong" is a common complaint here and I never fucking understand it. 

M M wrote:

I haven't climbed out west for years but in the east its definitely still the rage. Similar to driving a Subaru and wearing a carhart beanie, its almost the norm now.

Where were you to back me up in the pants over harness thread? If everyone wears pants over the harness you might never see leg tattoos. 

I can't believe how bothered people are in this thread. Tradiban would be the goat troll if he was covered in ink!

Eric Marx wrote:

Honestly, me too sometimes. Being heavily tattooed is a weird experience, where 99.99% of the time you’re not thinking about your tattoos at all, but sometimes you catch yourself in the mirror after a shower and you say to yourself, “What the heck is all this crap?” and then you tumble down the memory hole a bit to re-emerge a new creature.

The ladder is really just a filler tattoo, nothing else quite fit that spot. The woman with the fungus cooch(lol) is from an event that a local tattoo shop held to donate money to LI Against Domestic Violence. They had ten or so designs to choose from and all proceeds went to charity. It’s kind of an excuse to get tattooed and feel like it wasn’t an entirely selfish thing.

This is what I meant about the disturbing number. The tattoos are filling some other need than mere body decoration.

Marc801 C wrote:

This is what I meant about the disturbing number. The tattoos are filling some other need than mere body decoration.

i bet you have a tramp stamp

curt86iroc wrote:

i bet you have a tramp stamp

Of course. Who doesn't?

Marc801 C wrote:

This is what I meant about the disturbing number. The tattoos are filling some other need than mere body decoration.

I don’t think so, it’s a little like setting arbitrary climbing goals and sticking to them. While heavy tattooing may be considered a type of body dysmorphia(I suppose it would depend on the mental health of the person and the content of their tattoos.) For others, it’s just another hobby. I don’t drink(except good wines), use drugs, I have a life filled with love for my fiancé, love for my (eventual) children and family, a very rewarding career, a love of God and all his blessings, and of course as much climbing as I can sneak away to do.

In addition to all that, I set a goal many years ago of getting covered in tattoos, a goal which may never be fully realized because I’m sick of the pain and I’m running out of ideas lol. In honesty, I’m not sure why, all I know is that one of my uncles has a Slash-style pin-up tattooed on his forearm, and when I saw that at some young age (5-7?) I thought it was the coolest thing ever and decided in that moment I would get a lot of tattoos when I got older.

If you’re imagining a drunken homeless climber stumbling into a tattoo shop to spend his last dollar numbing the pain of life and filling some unknown need, that definitely isn’t my relationship with tattooing, though I understand there are many tattooed people dealing with life in their own way.

Eric Marx wrote:

I don’t think so, it’s a little like setting arbitrary climbing goals and sticking to them. While heavy tattooing may be considered a type of body dysmorphia(I suppose it would depend on the mental health of the person and the content of their tattoos.) For others, it’s just another hobby. I don’t drink(except good wines), use drugs, I have a life filled with love for my fiancé, love for my (eventual) children and family, a very rewarding career, a love of God and all his blessings, and of course as much climbing as I can sneak away to do.

In addition to all that, I set a goal many years ago of getting covered in tattoos, a goal which may never be fully realized because I’m sick of the pain and I’m running out of ideas lol. In honesty, I’m not sure why, all I know is that one of my uncles has a Slash-style pin-up tattooed on his forearm, and when I saw that at some young age (5-7?) I thought it was the coolest thing ever and decided in that moment I would get a lot of tattoos when I got older.

If you’re imagining a drunken homeless climber stumbling into a tattoo shop to spend his last dollar numbing the pain of life and filling some unknown need, that definitely isn’t my relationship with tattooing, though I understand there are many tattooed people dealing with life in their own way.

I'll trade getting banned to be able to say top tier post, major vibes, OJ/10.

Eric Marx wrote:

John Muir, like many, many racist men and women before him, from all creeds and races, mind you, shaped the world that you live in today, for better or worse. In this case, for the better, if you’ve ever visited a single national park. Judging the morality of the past by the morality of today is a bit silly. All you can do is try as hard as you might to be better than those that came before you, and if you’re being honest, you’ll likely find yourself failing way more often than you want to admit.

All true , but wokeness/cancel culture is a mental disease that has nothing to do with making the world a better place..…they don’t want to be better than the “racists” before them, they just want the world to pay attention to their virtue signaling while they gang up like hyenas on their chosen victim and just enjoy watching it get devoured.

love it!  I've always considered a mountain goat.  

Princess Puppy Lovr wrote:

Where were you to back me up in the pants over harness thread? If everyone wears pants over the harness you might never see leg tattoos. 

I can't believe how bothered people are in this thread. Tradiban would be the goat troll if he was covered in ink!

I dont know this thread you speak of but certainly pants over harness could solve the bulging junk/swollen camel toe issues.

Who is bothered anyway?

Might I suggest a tape measure, pair of scissors, and an utterly mashed up 1998 Yellow Pages to complete the kitchen junk drawer look?

These are sick. I love illustrative tattoos.  

Connor Moynihan wrote:

These are sick. I love illustrative tattoos.  

Do they need medicine?

Val I wrote:

All true , but wokeness/cancel culture is a mental disease that has nothing to do with making the world a better place..…they don’t want to be better than the “racists” before them, they just want the world to pay attention to their virtue signaling while they gang up like hyenas on their chosen victim and just enjoy watching it get devoured.

You sound triggered, snowflake.