UKC

Hi all,

I have seen some people on here describe themselves as lifestyle climbers, whereas most say they're standard or traditional climbers, all i know about the difference of the two is that lifestyle climbers tend to give up permanent residence and often travel around climbing, whereas traditionalists will have permanent residences and jobs and wil travel to a climb on the weekend or something.

so i wanted to ask if there are any other telling differences?

Thanks

In reply to Sean Studd:

Lifestyle climbers are victims of marketing

Everyone else are just climbers.

In reply to Sean Studd:

If climbers live in places such as Llanberis, Sheffield, Portland, Boulder, Arapiles, Kaly, it certainly doesn't prove that they're lifestyle climbers. But I'd have my suspicions, especially if they'd lived in more than one of these abodes.

Mick

In reply to Sean Studd:

lifestyle climbers will bore the feck out of you.

In reply to Sean Studd:
You have misunderstood the meaning of the word "traditional" in the context of climbing.
(To a fairly epic, almost heroic, degree.)

In reply to deepsoup:

help me out then?

In reply to Sean Studd:

lol - not again!

Lifestyle climbers are gods and all other "climbers" are weaklings, unable to cope with the challenge of making an espresso from the back of a T5.

Traditional climbers love a chat about bolting gritstone or the ethics of sport climbing.

In reply to Sean Studd:


Go on then, 'Traditional' or more commonly 'Trad' climbing is the discipline that most outdoor climbers in the UK practice. It is essentially, turn up at the crag bottom, climb upwards using only your body to effect upwards progress, when opportunity allows insert a device into weakness' in the rock, clip rope into the device, complete climb, second person follows and retrieves devices from the rock.
The purpose of the devices is to secure the rope to the rockface so that in the event for a fall there is an anchor which will catch the fall and prevent the lead climber hitting the ground. Nothing has been used to facilitate upwards progress other than the lead climbers strength, technique and courage. All equipment serves only to provide a margin of safety in the event of a fall and is only effective if weakness in the rock allows placement, it is well placed and if it is placed at all, hence a level of risk is involved and safety is dependent on many many variables.

This is a style of ascent and holds true regardless of the lifestyle of the participant or frequency with which they climb. Alternatives to 'trad' include Sport (use of pre placed permanent anchors) Aid (use of devices to facilitate upward progress rather than holds on the rock) and Soloing (climbing with no rope and no corresponding margin of safety in the event of a fall).

In reply to Sean Studd:

Question 6 has the answer:

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/are-you-a-twat-2012102446226

In reply to Sean Studd:

If you're still hoping to impress your girlfriend's dad, this might help:

http://community.berghaus.com/athletes/fake-it-til-you-make-it-a-bluffers-g...

Just don't actually try climbing with him.

In reply to Sean Studd:

Your girlfriend and her dad are climbers. You want to make a good impression. So why not ask *them* to explain this stuff to you.

Showing genuine interest -- and giving them an opportunity to talk at length about something they're passionate about --is a lot more likely to impress than turning up and going, "I know all about climbing because some random people on the internet told me such-and-such!"

In reply to slab_happy:

My fear is that the OP has already bigged himself up as a 'climber'.

In reply to Sean Studd:

Traditional climbers practice traditional (more often called trad) climbing. That's a way of climbing that uses the natural features of the rock to protect from a fall. Ie the rock is not bolted. We're the bravest, strongest and generally just the best type of climbers.

Lifestyle climbers are people who pretend to be climbers but actually just like people thinking they're climbers rather than actually climbing. They can be spotted by their brand new volkswagen van, soft hands and being covered head to toe in spotless 'climbing clothes'. As any trad climber will tell you they wash far more often than is healthy.