[fatneck]

I don't own/write a blog but have recently spent some time cruising a few of the forum regulars efforts and have been pleasantly surprised by what I've found. There are many class offerings and I thought I should share this gem from Doylo with any of you who haven't yet read it;

Your Sunday Sermon - The Art Of Crushing

My apologies for the lateness of todays sermon. I have been out for two days carrying out Gods good work (ahem)!
Todays sermon is on the art of crushing - a very important part of rock climbing. A few times a year when the time is right it is necessary for a rock climber to crush. By crushing I mean dispatching or kicking the shit out of a certain boulder problem or sport route (crushing does not apply to trad). One day a rock climber may turn up at the crag to find something magic in the air, everything seems a little easier, there is an atmosphere that the rock climber has not experienced before and this is when the climber crushes. Crushing only occurs a few times a year, if it occured any more than this then it would not hold such special resonance. The feeling of crushing a long term project or ones hardest problem or route is pure ecstasy. It is like an orgasm that doesn't end for sometimes even days. Any sexual experience one has had will pale into insignificance compared to these moments. They are very special when they come around and they must be treasured. Sometimes there is a moment in a rock climbers life when the time is right to crush a certain project and one day either side just won't do it. This happened to me on a rock climb called Melancholie. I believe if I hadn't crushed that go I may never have done it. So my children, when you know the time is right, when your out at the crag and all is perfect, go forth and crush!

Chris, I wad thee...

[Houdini]

I'm not a fan of (download-free) blogs. 

[fatneck]

I have to say I wasn't really taken with the idea and I don't think I could be arsed maintaining one. But fair play to those who do. It's an interesting insight into peoples lives and motivations and I'm looking forward to enjoying some more.

[Houdini]

Er . . .   Well my only interests are interests and I know it's contradictory to say this but I think climbing is a doing thing and the less words the better.  They complicate a simple and beautiful thing. 

I'd like to make a silent climbing film.  No text at all; undiluted anonymous action.

[fatneck]

I (think) I can see where you're coming from but I fucking love reading about climbing whatever it's form (even if there are no down-loads..). I've spent the last 8 months (since moving in with an obsessed trad climber) reading my way through an extensive library of mainly mountaineering books and whilst it's not really what I'm in to, I've enjoyed virtually every one of them (even some of Joe Simpsons often self-righteous spoutings).

I love talking about climbing, the history of climbing, the aura of climbing, climbing itself and the processes and intracacies of bouldering, in fact, the mind set of boulderers/climbers in general fascinates me totally. And whilst bouldering is a simple and beautiful thing I also think the more climbing related reading there is out there the better.

Some blogs are obviously better than others but in some ways that makes all the more worth while when you happen upon something similair to what I found on Doyles blog this evening. Reading about climbing keeps me psyched/sane/occupied when I can't climb/sleep/go on bouldering forums etc. etc.

[SA Chris]

I've been thinking about starting a blog, but not sure I would be arsed to maintain it. But there are some great ones out there.

[Jaspersharpe]

Dangerously close to a puntering for Simpson appreciation there fatneck. 

[slackline]

I've had a few goes at writing a blog, but don't have the discipline to maintain it.  Not very surprising though considering I tried keeping a diary when I was six or seven and gave up after a week.  I don't think it helps that I'm not a massively reflective person, I just accept that shits happened and get on with the next thing.

[Houdini]

I love talking about climbing, the history of climbing, the aura of climbing, climbing itself and the processes and intracacies of bouldering, in fact, the mind set of boulderers/climbers in general fascinates me totally. And whilst bouldering is a simple and beautiful thing I also think the more climbing related reading there is out there the better.

You're a climbing bore, aren't you? 


I visit the UK infrequently these days, but when I do the last thing I wish to talk about w/ the people I've missed is climbing.  Which is a problem for me as most people I know in Wales are climbers.  I find climbers amonst some of the nmost tedious people out there; every conversation in every social situation revolves around climbing, if it's not what they're doing or want to do it's what someone else is doing or wants to do.  Climbers live and breathe it and I find the architype as tedious as say, someone who lives and breathes classic cars.  Interesting for a while, but ultimately wearysome. 

There is no mystery or romance these days, no soft focus, so little ambiguity.  Every muscle is on display each and every thought about the why's and wherefore's of this that and every fucking other . . .   It's enough to make me want to do a "Falling Down" and find some guns.

Clearly, I'm deeply cynical on the subject . . .   15mm deadhangs you say?! 

[Jaspersharpe]

 It's enough to make me want to do a "Falling Down" and find some guns.

Something's bound to push you over the edge sooner or later. My guess is it'll be a photo of Fiend with socks in his boots that finally makes you snap.

[tc]

Er . . .   Well my only interests are interests and I know it's contradictory to say this but I think climbing is a doing thing and the less words the better.  They complicate a simple and beautiful thing.

Sorry, la, I just couldn't resist this: How do your 4000+ posts on this board fit in with your philosophy of the taciturn climber? 

[SA Chris]

I find climbers amongst some of the most tedious people out there; every conversation in every social situation revolves around climbing, if it's not what they're doing or want to do it's what someone else is doing or wants to do. 

Surely the variety of discussions on this forum disproves this point? I have very few climbing friends where climbing is the only common ground we have, and therefore in social situations with them conversation revolves around climbing, but the majority of my climbing friends and I have a wide range of interests in common, and conversation reflects this. I would have thought this was common?

[Houdini]

UKB is not a blog.  & I like talking English once in a while (keep my hand in, what).

Socially mano-a-mano, it grinds me down.  I feel like a footballers' wife.  I also talk mostly about arty stuff/techno tc, not climbing, in the main.

@ Chris:  I guess it's a question of who you know.  You're a salaried worker, I'm a bum.

[Jaspersharpe]

I agree with Chris. Most of my coversations with lagers revolve around such things as turning Luton into a forced labour camp for chavs or opening a chain of indoor crazy golf emporia to rival bowling alleys as entertainment for the masses. Climbing rarely gets much of a look in. It's more likely to be non-climbing blokes who tend to only be able to discuss birds and football (subjects I also enjoy but not all the fucking time) in my experience.

[dobbin]

You're a climbing bore, aren't you? 

I visit the UK infrequently these days, but when I do the last thing I wish to talk about w/ the people I've missed is climbing.  Which is a problem for me as most people I know in Wales are climbers.  I find climbers amonst some of the nmost tedious people out there; every conversation in every social situation revolves around climbing, if it's not what they're doing or want to do it's what someone else is doing or wants to do...

...There is no mystery or romance these days, no soft focus, so little ambiguity.  Every muscle is on display each and every thought about the why's and wherefore's of this that and every fucking other . . .   It's enough to make me want to do a "Falling Down" and find some guns.

Clearly, I'm deeply cynical on the subject . . .   15mm deadhangs you say?! 

Good post. I agree with bits of this. Having a non climbing girlfriend makes me quite normal in that I dont talk only about climbing and that when she's with me and we meet climbers I try to avoid excluding her by rattling on about climbing. But, put climbers with climbers and eventually the conversation will turn to climbing, its what we have in common and its an obsessive activity. Some climbers are more normal than others, some people dont genuinely have anything outside of climbing to talk about.

The loss of mystery and romance is inevitable - to lament otherwise is to ignore the social changes the internet has made possible/encouraged. I wouldnt let it stress you out though - blimey, if you dont like it - dont read it!

[Houdini]

Can we swap mates for a while Jasper?  Older people generally have more to say on a wider range of subjects, the younger people I hang w/ talk it (climbing) 24/7 (as do a section of older mates that still want to live the dream).  I don't blog.



Blogging is not resticted to climbing though is it?  It's a modern phenomenon.  There are billions of them.  I've read a few articles on blogs and the theories knocking around concerning their rise.  I think they're more intesting than the blogs.

[Houdini]

Oh I don't let it bother me, per se Dobbin.  Blogs are just one aspect of modern life I find baffling.

[Cookie]

I think it can be really unwise to blog with impunity. I know someone who was tracked down through their blog because of work-related stuff they'd said. And in the past I've also asked a friend with a blog to remove my name and location from a posting she wrote. She hadn't meant any harm but when writing freely, peoples names, relationships, locations etc slip out easily and before you know it the whole interweb knows who you are and what you're up to. Scary stuff.

A blog might be helpful if you're happy to be free and open about yourself and 100% confident nobody is out to get you, or if you're super-duper careful to keep anonymous. Or (as a student friend of mine does) you can make your blog visible only to selected guests. Or you could send out a daily / weekly email to people you want to hear your thoughts and experiences. Or you could write up your thoughts and send them to a magazine or journal who'll publish them if they're worth reading.

[Jaspersharpe]

I find them interesting. The fact that some are well written, entertaining and thought provoking and that others are complete tosh. Some people have interesting things to say and the ability to say them well. Keith's Font blog was a good example as are Sonnie Trotter's, Dobbin's and others. Some have neither but still feel compelled to share their thoughts with the world and this can be pretty entertaining to read too. I'll not start citing examples of the latter as I got in hot water last time I questioned someone's ability to write decent English. 

[SA Chris]

I think it was last year sometime that a guy got fired from Waterstones (? I think) because of some inflammatory remarks he made about his employers in a blog.

[Houdini]

Well I'm not too keen on a hOU vs UKB deathmatch here  


But I'm like Dobbin, my GF doesn't climb and I've spent a lot of time when I've been living in the 'beris area going out of my way to make friends w/ non-climbers:  bit of respite, yes?  The times when I've been a guest in a climber's house who has a non-climbing wife really have made me feel for them.  But this is kinda off-topic and not blog-ish.

Some people on here blog, I used to pop in every now and again but I guess the attraction has worn off.  As has my desire to analyse the climbing experience too greatly, which relates to that thread about climbing writing and why the personal introspective stuff quickly turns to unbearable gash (for me) and the more Oooh...  Pritchard-esque stuff wins over.

[Nibile]

i think we have to distinguish.
there are many ways to run a blog and a conversation as well, regardless of the subject: you can talk art in a boring way and climbing in an interesting, introspective way, and vice versa.

most climbers are quite enthusiatic about climbing, i think it's normal to talk about it with fellow climbers, even if someone stretches this too far, and some friends of mine are in this case.
blogs are a way to keep in touch and to share, and i don't think this detracts from the mystery of climbing. it's a matter of how you blog, and how you blog reflects how you see climbing.

i personally get some good inspiration from the blogs i read.

[Houdini]

i personally get some good inspiration from the blogs i read.

Must be a quirk of my character then, as I've yet to.  But I don't climb anymore so that's relevant too.

Like Jasper says, some people are very inept w/ language, I pick-up on this quickly.  Poor writing bores me.

[Fiend]

Blogs are another way of communicating. Nothing right or wrong with them per se. It's what people do with them - what they have to communicate it and how well they do it.

I've got more into climber's blogs recently - I blame dob for starting it all - and read quite a few. I'm interested in climbing and interested in people's passions and philosophy about it - when they have something interesting to say of course.

Unclesomebody's blog should be printed as a book, it's one of the most interesting things I've read on climbing in recent times. Dob's blog is entertaining and cute just like the man himself, though I miss the Tsunami angst. Nibble's blog I like his raw passionate writing. Doylo's has his moments, he's come out with some real gems in the Sunday Sermons. Bubba's trucking blog is interesting and refreshing seeing what it's like from inside the cab. And some others when they actually update.

[Paul B]

I have to say I wasn't really taken with the idea and I don't think I could be arsed maintaining one. But fair play to those who do.

I think a lot of blots open with similar sentiments but just keep ticking over. I now think they're pretty interesting (unc mk2)  to read, a good way of making sure you can find someone to climb or train with and in some cases pretty amusing (Dob, Doylo), all in all not bad for a read when you get bored of writing reports or sifting through masses of literature (tony's). I found mine pretty useful when I was injured to keep a rough record of progress that i was making etc.