UKC

I saw this post on Mountain Planet and it struck me that american punters are much "cooler" than British punters.
https://www.mountainproject.com/v/climbing-on-acid/108098610

What are peoples thought on this?

In reply to Al Onsight:

No: vimeo.com/20549603

In reply to Al Onsight:

Punters are never cool.

In reply to Al Onsight:

FMI: http://gravsports.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/ice-climbing-is-not-rock-climbing....

In reply to Al Onsight:


I think that it's an uncool question.

In reply to Al Onsight:
I don't know about cooler, but 'chilled' sometimes springs to mind, but I'm sure it's an entirely subjective point of view.

Perhaps any forum where people aren't being often extremely pedantic or argumentative makes the users seem cooler?

I think it's the second one.

In reply to jonnie3430:

Oh, I thought that was pretty cool. If you're going to fall, fall at the feet of an ER doctor...

In reply to captain paranoia:
I've sometimes thought I had a better sense of style for clothes as a teenager - changing to a different kind of cool.

I care about that kind of thing less now, which is arguably cooler in a different way, but I sometimes think I did.

In the end life's too short to be thinking about coolness...

In reply to captain paranoia:

First rule of ice climbing; put gear in before the steep bits.

In reply to Al Onsight:

They're not Punters - they're gumbys.

In reply to Al Onsight:
Explain why they seem much cooler to you, I'm not getting why you would feel this from reading this link, but I only read the first few posts to get a feel for where it was going.

I have done LSD when an experimental teen, 25 years ago, and to be honest after reading some of the replies on that link I can't help but think much of it is BS. People saying they put up their hardest Trad lead on LSD etc................... I just could not imagine LSD in any way making a climbing experience better and certainly not improve capability. You would have to be an utter idiot not to be terrified climbing knowing you've taken LSD.

But coolness in general, well climbing is not a cool sport unless you're a climber. People don't associate coolness with climbers, more so because nine climbers have no idea what 'rock climbers' do. They imagine overweight bearded, 50 somethings hiking up a high mountain. I always thought 20 years ago that climbing was really misunderstood and the general public were really ignorant to what 'climbing' entails. 20 years later and nothing at all has changed.

In reply to Timmd:

That's such a cool reply.

In reply to Dominicandave:

>You would have to be an utter idiot not to be terrified climbing knowing you've taken LSD.

What if you're climbing after taking LSD but don't remember you've taken LSD?
Or you know you have but you're having a wonderful experience so you're not at all terrified?

In reply to Al Onsight:

Not sure exactly what you're alluding to. The fact that they climb whilst intoxicated, or maybe the respectful tone of the replies?

Certainly there's no shortage of epic drug tales amongst the British climbing community. Not usually combined with climbing, but perhaps because we don't have 3000 ft aid climbs here. I think extreme sports are likely to attract those more willing to take a bit of risk, people who are more inclined to think for themselves rather than blindly accept society's norms, and that's probably true in any country.

In reply to aln:




Having a decade ago watched my friend perform an extreme winter sport not two hours after taking ecstasy I can categorically state that even the mildest of hallucinogens is not an aid to performance. Half rope technique would be hilariously befuddling.

In reply to Dominicandave:


Good post - couldn't agree more. My experience of climbing after imbibing various hallucinogens (not all at once) was that it is not at all conducive to climbing. I spent about two hours stood at the start of one route staring at my fingers wedged into a crack - trying to decide where my fingers ended and the crack began. In the end I was convince that I had a thirty foot long finger. Another time I climbed two foot up a slab and then put my ear to it and listened to it breathing for an hour. Definitely no hard 'sends' getting done.

Remember kids, drugs are bad... Mmmmkay?

In reply to Al Onsight:



I think that you must be using an interesting definition of cool

In reply to Morty:

Exactly my view. I can only assume that American acid is A LOT weaker than the stuff we used to take back in the day.

Taking acid is definitely not cool btw. I was young, stupid and looking for an easy escape from a bad place.

In reply to Phil Anderson:


Having first-hand experience of the damage that it can do to mental health, I couldn't agree more.

In reply to Phil Anderson:


Like their Margaritas then.

In reply to aln:

Life often isn't linear & logical.

In reply to Morty:

Yes, I'm of the opinion that drugs aren't cool, though also, drugs aren't uncool, too, some people can be fine in experimenting. Having fun and not planning ahead too far and letting life just unfold and having adventures can be rewarding/fun/cool, which people who experiment with drugs might be more likely to have as an approach to life, but they're not one and the same.

It's a shame to risk messing up one's mind, I guess. It's the root of all things.

In reply to BnB:
".... I can categorically state that even the mildest of hallucinogens is not an aid to performance. "

even in the bedroom?

In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

There was a study a while ago that showed that moderate amounts of alcohol improved sex for women, and made it worse for men. I have no idea how that would extend to drugs...

In reply to aln:

It was a self serving reply I reckon.

In reply to Al Onsight:

So we conclude American puters are just junkies!