"These Photos of Kate Upton Will Convince You to Go Rock Climbing"

is that her home gym? i am envious. 

I just want to add that Shape began publishing in 1981, the year I joined my first gym, Gold’s gym of Mountain View, CA. You have to realize that at that time very few women weight trained or even belonged to fitness gyms. A close colleague of mine once said to me, about how he found my (at that time very strong and very fit) body unappealing, “I like my women mushy”.  

[post limits. Condolences to everyone stuck inside against their will today. It's a voluntary rest day here after having climbed big granite for three days in a row. Heading out of cell service again for the next three, so feel free to blather at your leisure, or let this thread descend into obscurity. 

TLDR for whole thread: I think the linked Shape article has more worthwhile climbing content than most modern climbing mags do nowadays. That's less a praise of Shape and more an indictment of Outside+ et al. I highly doubt that any of the major mags will ever step up their game. If you want to read worthwhile climbing-related prose, subscribe to the Zine. They're doing it right.]

Eh, my humor doesn't always come across well. Spend as much time posting on MP as I do and you're bound to get a flop from time to time. I mean no disparagement to anyone, just riffing on the verisimilitude between the current run of contemporary climbing media to clickbait mainstream fitness / Men's Health / GQ / whatever articles. The Great Algorithm suggested that article to me with the phrase that I used in this thread title, ipse dixit absolute truth has been revealed and the synthetic apriori is upon us.

And I'll freely admit to being a gatekeeper when it comes to outdoor climbing, perhaps even a snob. I think overpopulation is a real issue. I used to be all "rah rah, let's get every possible person outdoors climbing" and now ... not so much.

One of the rags (Climbing or R&I) published a piece on "clucking" a while back. I remember reading it and thinking "didn't this magazine used to publish cool trip reports about climbing? And now they're telling people how to practice safe sex on vertical terrain." SMDH.

My last comment (hotbutton "real women," obvs that's a ridiculous term) was an attempt to redirect the male-gazey direction that some of the previous posters were taking. I've got no respect for the objectification of women or men. It's hard enough being simply human in a world that posits reductive materialism.

F r i t z wrote:

One of the rags (Climbing or R&I) published a piece on "clucking" a while back. I remember reading it and thinking "didn't this magazine used to publish cool trip reports about climbing? And now they're telling people how to practice safe sex on vertical terrain." SMDH.

I find it hilarious that you explain your post as an attempt at humor, while the "clucking" video was MTV's attempt at being funny as well, yet, obviously, not everyone was laughing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syi62M7dpkw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4g4wKc_xgU 

phylp phylp wrote:

I just want to add that Shape began publishing in 1981, the year I joined my first gym, Gold’s gym of Mountain View, CA. You have to realize that at that time very few women weight trained or even belonged to fitness gyms. A close colleague of mine once said to me, about how he found my (at that time very strong and very fit) body unappealing, “I like my women mushy”.  

That's a nice bit of history! I was in gymnastics in high school (graduated 1975). We were allowed in the weight room...but only certain machines. No free weights. 

I think too many still prefer their females "mushy", or, a bunch of other stuff that's no one else's say. 

I'm planning a breast reduction surgery, whenever it can be scheduled. Only one guy has questioned why I would do such a thing, an unnecessary (their word) surgery.

Cuz I wanna, that's more than enough reason. 

And?

High steps.

Running.

Rowing....

phylp phylp I'm glad we lived long enough to get in that weight room. 

Best, Helen

Old lady H wrote:

I'm planning a breast reduction surgery, whenever it can be scheduled. Only one guy has questioned why I would do such a thing, an unnecessary (their word) surgery.

Cuz I wanna, that's more than enough reason. 

Amen

phylp phylp I'm glad we lived long enough to get in that weight room. 

Best, Helen

I love weight training.  It's good cross-training for climbing.

From my post above, "Bigger" is not a documentary - it's a dramatized version of the life of Joe Weider, his brother, and his wife, Betty Brosmer, who seemed like a real pistol.  I think it's on Netflix.

Fritz, didn't mean my comment as a criticism of your post, take care out there. Phyl

phylp phylp wrote:

……A close colleague of mine once said to me, about how he found my (at that time very strong and very fit) body unappealing, “I like my women mushy”.  

“One of the best things in life is smooth whisky and firm Women”

So Phylp during the early 80’s you did have naturally big shoulders? No need for those shoulder pads that were all the rage. 

Verlander is a stud. And he pitches well too

Can we also talk about the fact that she's a model, not an actress, as the OPs article says? 

Ben B wrote:

Can we also talk about the fact that she's a model, not an actress, as the OPs article says? 

She was in a Robot Chicken episode. And at least one movie.

F r i t z wrote:

https://www.shape.com/celebrities/celebrity-workouts/kate-upton-rock-climbing

Brought to you by Outside+

Fritz’z ego is on the fritz about Kate Upton being a better Climber. 

If Kate Upton is an actress, then I can climb 5.14 

Ben B wrote:

If Kate Upton is an actress, then I can climb 5.14 

Since I am not into movie trivia I had to use imdb.com to see in what movies Kate Upton appeared - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4478322/
She has 11 credits listed under the "Actress" category, whatever that means.

Congratulations on sending those 5.14s

One of those 'credits' is her dancing in a bikini in a youtube video.... 

Ben B wrote:

One of those 'credits' is her dancing in a bikini in a youtube video.... 

Yeah, sure, but what you call 5.14 is 5.6 in the Gunks.

Ben B wrote:

If Kate Upton is an actress, then I can climb 5.14 

https://www.throughtheclutter.com/kate-upton-29929.php

Kate Upton is worth googling. Yeah, yeah, you'll get the bikini pics and sports illustrated, going back to when she was a teen. 

But?

Head to some of the articles and you will quickly learn that she was one of the few models who wasn't super skinny....and got crap for being "fat". "A squishy brick" is one description. That, as a teen.

It continued.

She eventually had to reconcile the disparity between the fantasies imposed on her, and the reality of who she was.

That's when fitness entered the picture. Working out with simply being healthy and fit as the goal, not to lose weight and be as expected. Her fitness aims with the workouts have the stated goal to fo exactly that, and help others do so also.

In more recent times, she charged someone with abuse, and stuck to her guns.

Actress or not, as a model?

I'll give her my respect, for using the body she has, sticking up for that body, and using her platform to advocate.

Including in previous interviews in Shape magazine.

Quite a few of us have discovered climbing is very powerful in reshaping our thinking about, and relationship to, our bodies. 

I don't think the article in this thread will send anyone off to buy a trad rack, anymore than climbers will rush to buy the big ticket clothes Jimmy Chin and what's his name modeled for GQ a few years back. If it inspires some women and girls to try out a climbing gym? And they (wonder of wonders) discover the body they don't like can actually do badass and extremely fun stuff?

Yay Kate.

Best, Helen

Old lady H wrote:

I'm planning a breast reduction surgery, whenever it can be scheduled. Only one guy has questioned why I would do such a thing, an unnecessary (their word) surgery.

I had a good friend in college who had that exact surgery. Was amazingly liberating for her. She had felt literally burdened and, also, unattractive, because of her natural breasts (which were huge). She always seemed so much more comfortable in her body after that. 

Re: the original point of the thread, you could just as easily replace the article about Kate Upton with the one a while ago in which Jared Leto or whoever was walking across the climbing gym parking lot in his TC Pro's. Or something about Jason Momoa's signature shoe designed by So Ill. The contention being, mainstream climbing media has become a parody of itself with regards to the hype factory content and thinly-veiled paid promotions.

I wouldn't be surprised if the rags started publishing articles with titles like these:

- "Does Your Climbing Partner Want a Belaytionship? Six Sure-Fire Strategies for Finding Out."
- "Top Ten Reasons to Go to El Potretro Chico Over New Year's (#7 will blow your mind!")
- "Black Diamond Just Designed a New Quickdraw -- We Haven't Climbed With it Yet, but You Should Buy Twelve!"
- "Are You Ready to Climb Epineprine? Take Our Ten-Question Quiz and Book Your Flight!"
- "Which Beer Should You Bring Bouldering? Our Experts Weigh in with their Top Picks"
- "Fifty Reasons You Should Move to Boulder"

Re: thread drift, who cares if Kate Upton is best classified as a model-slash-actress or an actress-slash-model. When you factor in "slope" as per the Will C Model, she climbs harder than I do. Thank gote for trad climbing, without whose ego-saving excuses my true ineptitude would be herein laid bare. ;-)

In other news, it's cattle drive season in the Creek, and there are boatloads of baby cows frolicking in some of the side canyons.

phylp phylp wrote:

Fritz, didn't mean my comment as a criticism of your post, take care out there. Phyl

No offense taken, and none intended on my end. You're one of the more level-headed people on the forum and I appreciate reading your posts.