Friday glee has gritstone rash

[rydra_wong]

The Friday post of glee is where you get to tell us about your climbing-related happiness this week.

N.B. Please feel free to post your glee on any day of the week; the Friday glee is just to get the ball rolling.

To enhance this week's glee -- yes, I freely admit that I am on a streak of posting gritstone vids, but here's yet another. Having made my own pilgrimage to Fontainebleau earlier in the year, I'm charmed to see these guys coming in the opposite direction:

4 Froggies in the Peak part and Part 2.

(My French is nonexistent, but I'm getting the impression there may be some sheep jokes in there ...)

Comments

[tea]

Yeah, I spent more time this week trying to work problems that I was getting stuck in backwards. Like, oh, to push up I need that foot there so I go in this order, or to keep my balance there I need to get a hand to that one, etc. It helped a bunch!

I will do a new shoe post, then, but I did want to say thanks for the awesome advice, I made good use of it not being a complete n00b with the salesguy.

The gender split's been more equal other times, and it might have been there was a critical mass of dudes in the main area and that kept women out. That sounds awful, but I know it takes more guts to walk up to a wall when twenty brawny dudes are there!

[rydra_wong]

That sounds awful, but I know it takes more guts to walk up to a wall when twenty brawny dudes are there!

I know what you mean. It can feel intimidating, or just create the sense that this is a very macho, power-based thing, and no-one who isn't already climbing VRidiculous should even bother entering the sacred arena.

Particularly when they've all got their shirts off and are doing super-hard stuff to impress each other.

But it's weird now, because I know some of these guys. Some of the hardest climbers there were sincerely cheering me on and encouraging me when I was failing horribly on V0s, and are total sweethearts.

(Conversely, some of the brawny shirtless dudes who are busiest showing off to their mates actually can't climb for shit, and I have to restrain myself from flitting up the problems they're struggling on as part of my warm-up. Unless they're being assholes, in which case I have no compunctions.)

So now I wander past, snicker at or ogle the shirtlessness, cheer if someone I know is going for something hard, and get on with my projects. But I remember the inadvertent deterrent factor it can have at the start.