We All Make Decisions

This last week I confirmed a few things I already new, but I also learned something new (which, is surprising in and of itself. I reconfirmed that you don't tug on supermans cape, you don't spit into the wind, and you never take a knife to a gun fight. I learned that you don't go to Moab Utah to climb when you are in marginal shape and have one rack of gear.



There is definitely a reason why Moab is a premier climbing location. It is one of the most spectacular locations in the greater 48 states. On the drive there I kept catching myself say, "wow, that's cool!" about every five minutes. I annoyed myself not to mention my car companions.



Moab is also a premier climbing location because it offers some of the hardest climbs around. Therefore, all the pro's go there to climb, push themselves, and they in turn get there photo's taken there. So, it's one of the places you see in a lot of climbing mag's (my favorite publications) and posters. All the guide books talk about how amazing it is and how classic the climbs are, but when you look a little deeper you realize that unless you can climb 5.12c trad and have huge rack of gear you can't climb that classic climb. It's not a premier location because it is easy or fun. It is premier because it is really hard and challenging.



Climbing there, or should I say attempting to climb there, pushed me to a point where I have to make a decision. Option 1, get really strong, buy more gear, go back and kick ass. Option 2, quite climbing altogether. Now, I wouldn't say that I am stubborn (my girlfriend might) nor would I say that I hold grudges (my ex-girlfriend might), but good-old-option #1 seems way more appropriate then the option #2 to me.

Nobody Cares

As I was over hearing a recent conversation between a couple of stereo typical climber dude bra's I gained the inspiration for this entry. As always I am just writing what I know to be true for myself and apologize for any offense because it isn't intentional.

I listened to these two over enthusiastic climbers and I realized the only people who actually cared were themselves, and the only thing that either of them cared about was one-upping the other. Through this one-upping they seemed to just inflate each others ego's more and more. While they continued to stroke each other I realized that nobody else cares about how badass you think you are except you. No one cares that you climbed a blah blah blah, how you went left-middle-left on some class blah rapid, or even if you just shredded blah deep pow all day in the backcountry. Well, except for maybe your mom but even she probably just cares that your safe afterwards, which is why you should always call her and let her know your safe after a trip.

You don't have to go into excruciating detail about how this crimper, that jug, this sloper, and that crack was the sickest hardest move. I don't care if you climb 5.19+ please just shut up! If I, or anyone, asks you about local climbing, boating, biking, skiing, or outdoor activity do not, I repeat, do not launch into inflating your own ego and telling me how cool you think you are. Because, your not that cool, and I know that because if you were that cool then you would be on the cover of a magazine instead of Sharma. But your not and I know that because I read magazines when I want a dose of over inflated ego.

In the end the best way to phrase and/or sum up this whole rant is to quote a movie line that says, "quiet frankly my dear, I just don't give a dam!"