I recently began to get back into climbing after a few years off. I have been climbing more and more frequently over the past few weeks and took out membership of a cracking new little wall in London.
I am really enjoying it and feel fairly technically competent, just lacking in power. I wander around the various bouldering/training rooms and zip up and down problems that are well set and regularly changed.
However, recently I've noticed something. The wall feels very friendly for the most part however there are one or two guys who arrive, whip off their pants and then shout at one another across the rooms about how they just did this or that. Obviously grade is included. Fortunately it doesn't affect me, however I noticed it seems to really scare of the beginners and those who are less confident. I often find myself as one of the only ones climbing near these people while the other rooms are rammed.
It saddens me. Most of us try to encourage people who look like they're intimidated. But these guys do the opposite. The irony is that they are by no means out of the ordinary for regular climbers. But they do seem to damage the experience for many. I have been tempted to bring thing to the management's attention but don't want to rock the boat. I wonder if a 'pants on' rule would help!