And now.
(Stu can blame the relative prosperity of the new Labour era for his "lost generation").And now.
Wasn’t Walk of Life done while Labour were still in power?
Quote from: Somebody's Fool Wasn’t Walk of Life done while Labour were still in power?Same day as the financial crash, caused by overconfidence in inaccurate grading.
Basically would they be climbing at that level if they weren't allowed to by their financial situation and source of income? I'm guessing not. If we want world class, truly world class British Boulderers (and I do) we can't expect them to do it as a side job between a bit of rope access and tree surgery, training in a shed with no coach (much as we would love that very British aesthetic). A world class athlete these days needs to be a professional, and well, that means press releases and YouTube vids and agents and such.
Ned, Dan and others did a lot to de-stigmatise proper training and I think modern walls and the modern comp style have a large role to play in the current generation who are brute strong but are also flexible and know how to move.
Stu's 'lost generation' are roughly aged 40 - 50 now. He's right about it all, there are a load of reasons why and we have discussed it before.We failed to progress standards, thats it really.
Wouldn’t Dave Mac, Ben Bransby, James McHaffie all fit in that demographic? Gresh and Steve Mclure are in their early 50s and Ricky Bell is pushing 38 I think, so nearly there. Seems like trad climbers especially have moved the needle on what standards are now commonplace at the top.
A world class athlete these days needs to be a professional, and well, that means press releases and YouTube vids and agents and such.
Quote from: Wellsy on November 03, 2022, 10:44:09 am A world class athlete these days needs to be a professional, and well, that means press releases and YouTube vids and agents and such.But doesn’t the fact that one stuck up an Instagram post saying he’d done it accompanied by a goofy-ass thumbs-up pic and the other put out a press release on multiple websites and sponsors’ social-media accounts and them getting the same level of coverage show that you don’t need all of that?
But doesn’t the fact that one stuck up an Instagram post saying he’d done it accompanied by a goofy-ass thumbs-up pic and the other put out a press release on multiple websites and sponsors’ social-media accounts and them getting the same level of coverage show that you don’t need all of that?
Quote from: Stu Littlefair on November 02, 2022, 10:06:05 pmNed, Dan and others did a lot to de-stigmatise proper training and I think modern walls and the modern comp style have a large role to play in the current generation who are brute strong but are also flexible and know how to move.This one has me puzzled a bit; de-stigmatise? That's not how I'd view their influence.
Quote from: cowboyhat on November 03, 2022, 01:39:25 pmStu's 'lost generation' are roughly aged 40 - 50 now. He's right about it all, there are a load of reasons why and we have discussed it before.We failed to progress standards, thats it really.Wouldn’t Dave Mac, Ben Bransby, James McHaffie all fit in that demographic? Seems like trad climbers especially have moved the needle on what standards are now commonplace at the top.
Quote from: duncan on November 03, 2022, 08:51:47 amAnd now.Lockdown gains?
Maybe this comes across as completely histrionic and is a million miles away from the topic of Bosi doing an amazing bit of climbing, but I genuinely believe that a lot of the problems we have with access being withdrawn, over-crowding, erosion, litter, chalk being plastered, and so on have their roots in this mentality. It's not something that I argue Bosi is somehow 'guilty' of, but I think that press releases, agents, and the focus on grades above anything else in the media on this ascent are symptomatic of that mentality, and will contribute to worsening these problems because of how they shape how people think about climbing.
So the ultimate aim becomes to tick the highest possible number with the minimum amount of actual strength and talent.
So the ultimate aim becomes to tick the highest possible number with the minimum amount of actual strength and talent. What happened to just having fun?I think this objective of climbing the highest possible grade as the divine purpose of climbing may appear common-sensical these days, but I'm not sure it is. I feel like it's a capitalistic mindset to achieve quantifiable goals that has been ratcheted up over generations to the fever pitch state we're in now where nothing else apparently matters (in life in general too).
Quote from: mrjonathanr on November 03, 2022, 02:00:04 pmWouldn’t Dave Mac, Ben Bransby, James McHaffie all fit in that demographic? Gresh and Steve Mclure are in their early 50s and Ricky Bell is pushing 38 I think, so nearly there. Seems like trad climbers especially have moved the needle on what standards are now commonplace at the top. It is significantly easier to be world class in something almost no country in the world don't particularly take part of...