[Oldmanmatt]

#insta_is_my_psyche

To be fair, I rather enjoy scrolling through insta and appreciate the slide show aspect of seeing snippets of various locales, people’s adventures and travels.
I quite like seeing some of the people I follow, progress through training regimen or projects etc.

I think social media is what you choose to make it. Don’t like it? Don’t follow it.

Also, never read the comments.

[36chambers]

No, it's not as good youtube/vimeo for beta searching, but for general browsing I think it's far superior. And as Will says, you can search for stuff with hashtags which has often thrown up videos of specific problems for me. The future UKC link sounds great, I know I was big fan of Ed's old site.

Let the puntering commence.

Last year I was under some limestone eliminate and I had no idea where it went or what was in, a quick search on my phone for beta came up with nothing. Saw that someone had logged it on UKC recently, found them on instagram, their account was private so I requested to follow, 5 minutes later they had accepted and lo and behold their second most recent post was the beta I was looking for.

I climbed the climb, had a quick scan through their insta to see what it was like, unfollowed them, and continued with my day.

[SA Chris]

Last year I was under some limestone eliminate and I had no idea where it went or what was in, a quick search on my phone for beta came up with nothing. Saw that someone had logged it on UKC recently, found them on instagram, their account was private so I requested to follow, 5 minutes later they had accepted and lo and behold their second most recent post was the beta I was looking for.

I climbed the climb, had a quick scan through their insta to see what it was like, unfollowed them, and continued with my day.

What a time to be alive.

[Bradders]

The elephant in the room is, of course, using ‘send’ in any climbing related context.

Oh my goodness, yes, this!!

[Muesli]

The elephant in the room is, of course, using ‘send’ in any climbing related context.

Oh my goodness, yes, this!!

+1

[Bradders]

Not to worry. Alan James is coming to the rescue by incorporating the functionality that Ed GS developed a little while ago. You will soon be able to link Instagram, Youtube, and Vimeo videos to the UKC logbooks.

This is good news, I currently use the bookmark / collections function to save beta that I come across for future problems I'd like to do. Works well but you have to find the videos first which isn't the easiest thing.

I like insta. Recently I've been putting videos of me failing on a project on my stories and it's been nice to have lots of people getting in touch with encouragement and tips.

Obviously my main feed is a glorious display of unmitigated success 

[SA Chris]

In my view the biggest crimes is that a) bouldering is a cool new "thing" and b) that there is something spiritual and mystic about the climbing "experience" or "journey" and "self-discovery" it's not just people dicking about pulling hard on rocks for shits and giggles.

[Oldmanmatt]

In my view the biggest crimes is that a) bouldering is a cool new "thing" and b) that there is something spiritual and mystic about the climbing "experience" or "journey" and "self-discovery" it's not just people dicking about pulling hard on rocks for shits and giggles.

Oh yeah, esoteric bullshit and transcendental bollocks.
Yep, climbing feels nice.
So does sex, masturbation, a refreshing dip in the ocean and the first coffee of the day, still not found Nirvana...

[mark s]

The elephant in the room is, of course, using ‘send’ in any climbing related context.

Use of the word bloc is the one that sends me over the edge.

I saw a comment on insta once
"there are some great blocs on that boulder"  my head nearly spun off my shoulders

[mark s]

Another is a mountain climber who manages to worm in he was in the sbs and talk of a K2 winter ascent like it is the greatest achievement ever recorded in the whole of climbing in almost every single post.

[Duma]

The elephant in the room is, of course, using ‘send’ in any climbing related context.

No it's not - the Elephant is
MUSIC AT THE CRAG
FUCK OFF YOU SELFISH CUNTS
On the other hand, I rather like that IG is making it harder to search for beta - working out beta is one of the great joys of climbing, and having it available on demand is like cheating at the crossword

[Coops_13]

I’ve mentioned it before but betacache.com fills the void that Ed left. It’s used extensively in the US but has global videos. Another advantage is you don’t have to go to UKC for it (I thought this was a UKC bashing site)?!?

[Will Hunt]

I’ve mentioned it before but betacache.com fills the void that Ed left. It’s used extensively in the US but has global videos. Another advantage is you don’t have to go to UKC for it (I thought this was a UKC bashing site)?!?

You're totally right that UKC bashing should be a discipline in itself, but they do have the most comprehensive online database of climbs in the UK. I see that Betacache (which is a trademark infringement against the liquid nitrogen cooled server farm that sits in 36chambers' basement) has got some videos for climbs at a crag (Slipstones) called Bradford... 

[remus]

...they do have the most comprehensive online database of climbs in the UK.

And a feature in the works that lets you add videos to climbs in the logbook.

[SA Chris]

The elephant in the room is, of course, using ‘send’ in any climbing related context.

Use of the word bloc is the one that sends me over the edge.

I saw a comment on insta once
"there are some great blocs on that boulder"  my head nearly spun off my shoulders

Excuse me while i pull my remaining hair out...

[Will Hunt]

And a feature in the works that lets you add videos to climbs in the logbook.

Indeed.

Not to worry. Alan James is coming to the rescue by incorporating the functionality that Ed GS developed a little while ago. You will soon be able to link Instagram, Youtube, and Vimeo videos to the UKC logbooks.

[andy popp]

The elephant in the room is, of course, using ‘send’ in any climbing related context.

Use of the word bloc is the one that sends me over the edge.

I saw a comment on insta once
"there are some great blocs on that boulder"  my head nearly spun off my shoulders

Excuse me while i pull my remaining hair out...

We used all kinds of ridiculous lingo in Wales in the 80s, probably much to the bewilderment and disgust of previous generations. I can forgive the young their new inventions.

[36chambers]

Although beta videos on instagram can be a bit of a ballache to (re)find, I imagine most of those clips would never had made it on to the internet in the first place if it wasn't for insta.

[36chambers]

The elephant in the room is, of course, using ‘send’ in any climbing related context.

Oh my goodness, yes, this!!

+1

I like using "sent/send" and don't really get what the issue is.

Chatting shit climbing lingo is half the fun of being at the crag. I've been trying to use "the big sticky" at every chance I get.

[SA Chris]

We used all kinds of ridiculous lingo in Wales in the 80s, probably much to the bewilderment and disgust of previous generations. I can forgive the young their new inventions.

It happened everywhere. Whatever slang someone saw on moving over stone or high 5 was used at the crag the next day. I'm sure shlauky never even made it out of Cape Town https://www.climb.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9426

what Mark refers to makes f-all sense though. - "Some great blocs on that boulder", unless there is actually a large rock on top of another.

[teestub]

what Mark refers to makes f-all sense though. - "Some great blocs on that boulder", unless there is actually a large rock on top of another.

I thought bloc (in French) specified the climb rather than the boulder itself?

[SA Chris]

In every context I've seen it used in English (admittedly mostly Watson Guides) bloc has been used to describe a boulder?

[webbo]

You get bloc on some route topos when there’s a Boulder problem crux.

[Will Hunt]

Although beta videos on instagram can be a bit of a ballache to (re)find, I imagine most of those clips would never had made it on to the internet in the first place if it wasn't for insta.

I mean, yeah, but if you don't know the video exists then it's impossible to find it.

There's nothing like a video to generate interest in a route or a problem, or even an underloved crag, and I think sharing videos of slightly esoteric stuff is really important for drawing traffic away from honeypots and spreading the load. Some people have been commenting on my recent Ruin Bank Woods photos saying the crag looks cool. It's an amazing venue and, honestly, the more it gets cleaned the more there is to do there. There's tonnes of problems along the edge, some of which needs some TLC. But it's difficult to convince people of the quality without showing them stuff. Linking it all to UKC will be a game changer as people will be able to see what's on offer from the comfort of their couch. Have a look at these things from Jack Hustler, completely buried in Instagram. The rising break traverse is supposed to be 7C+ or something - a Steve Dunning problem. The photo is deceptive; it's a big boulder and steep! Caveat - the rock at Ruin Bank often looks gross and green but it's actually really high quality stuff, not as green in the warmer months, and cleans up very easily.

https://www.instagram.com/p/_11mAcsRX0CKUm_ULNOgetJcJhXE7UFEcJYGg0/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTe2su6Acm3R-dbgjPAxvCJ8Vn-rvFAFGgF5Rw0/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFUG7amsRUDFD0Fs-dgvAP7UIR2vqDaoDVp7C00/

https://www.instagram.com/p/zHiqWVMRU-bHgFPw1E3eQwpmOEfX0Icc8cjbs0/

https://www.instagram.com/p/y5SGxfsRQBZxEQxS1aiI8zRDwc5EV5hxJc-yg0/

Then look at this. To my knowledge the only online record of climbing at the mysterious Milking Hole! (Looks a bit rubbish, but the crag gets bigger over to the left).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIfvOSBjZcPTRb_4P8Hc-l72rB0D2hBgDI7GKc0/

[Dexter]

so people should be saying "that bloc has some great looking sends on it"?