UKC

Sarah Flint shares her personal view of the 'inherent sexuality of climbing'.

"I am a climbing whore. I will admit this freely to all and sundry, without a qualm. Let's not kid ourselves about this; no need for coyness. This climbing thing is all about sex..."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1841

In reply to UKC Articles: Let me guess. You live in London and climb mainly indoors?

In reply to UKC Articles: Sarah

Very funny, very insightful and very enjoyable.

In reply to UKC Articles:

i like it, an extended version of "rock climbing is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman..."

In reply to Removed User:

According to her logbook, her latest climbs were "Dong" and "Mucky Gully" !!

Excellant article

In reply to UKC Articles:

243 views in 48 minutes, amazing what a title can do.

Redundant and unfocused, making no real point. The topic has been dealt with succinctly several times.

In reply to UKC Articles: I thought it was rambling and in general a poor assessment of the climbing scene. Granted for some people going to an indoor wall is bit like joining a gym. But the other droning on about imaginary sexual connections between equipment could be applied to most sports.

Gear Tart? Gear Freak is well used praise but tart, new one on me, or perhaps I'm not in the scene.

So in summary, we are all have supressed sexual desires, but choose to climb as it is point fun that allows us to release our sexual stress. I can smell poo not hormones coming from this article.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I blame the schools and maybe parents for the lack of comprehension skills these days.

I found it hilarious, focused, perceptive, and a topic well worth revisiting on a regular basis - even if I didn't agree with all Madam's points.

But there again I was the class dunce, so what do I know!

Mick

In reply to UKC Articles: I suspect the article was written with tounge firmly in cheek you know - that's the impression I get from it anyway. perhaps you're taking it a little too seriously?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

I thought it humorous and very tongue in cheek.

BS is shooting the crap again.

In reply to sutty:

it's okay to dislike articles, isn't it?

Personally, I really wasn't sure about it, but I think it warrants a rereading before I make any judgements.

In reply to Removed User:

And certainly didn't start climbing 30 years ago when girl climbers were just rumours from France and there weren't any climbing walls worth talking of.

Unfortunately, the article is an example of how crass overstatement ruins some interesting insights (shouting in a library).
Easy gal ...

In reply to Tall Clare:

ditto

In reply to Tall Clare:

I suppose it is, but BS is so dismissive of it it riles. Perhaps he should write one and see it shot down and think before posting.

In reply to sutty:

perhaps he's just being provocative. We seem to be very happy to interrogate criticism, but we rarely do the same with praise.

In reply to UKC Articles: Interesting to get a womans view on the subject.
Prehaps as men we are more focused without women around, which could prehaps be why climbing is a male doninated sport. which is bad!

In reply to Tall Clare:

one thought about the article is that the writer must be going to more exciting venues than the ones I frequent, as it seems to be quite easy for me not to be distracted by the male flesh on display.

I would, however, be delighted to attend the venues she frequents in order to offer a more considered, in depth opinion. After a lengthy study period, obviously.

In reply to Tall Clare:

It adds to the diversity of feature articles at UKClimbing.com that we publish each month.


MAY
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1837

This year so far.....All 2009 Articles by category

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/older.html?category=&date=2009

Scroll down to the bottom of that page.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Confused now, I thought she was the whore not the Madam?

In reply to winhill:

we're in the Brave New World now - perhaps she's self-employed so covers all bases.

In reply to UKC Articles: What about the children?! Won't somebody please think of the children!?

In reply to sutty:

I thought my response was fairly constructive! "Dismissive" would be a lazier comment such as "Crap". I didn't want to pick it to pieces line-by-line, and I have neither the time nor the inclination to do so at the moment.

I have submitted an article to UKC, it was published, nobody shot it down, it's gone now (for the My First Lead competition last year).

The defences offered for the article in question are also dismissive of every criticism levelled at it! They're basically inverting the words used by those who dared to voice a negative opinion.

In reply to Tall Clare:

I was just giving my opinion! Maybe it was incidentally provocative, but I wasn't just posting to try and be provocative. Unlike, say, the author and publishers of this article.

In reply to grumpybearpantsclimbinggoat:

hehehe excellent.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Bummer, I live in the wrong place, I never seen any of that at Oaklands (York) wall.
They even draw the shutters for the middle aged 'bums & tums' class!!

In reply to UKC Articles:
Patronising not patronising.
Good article though.
James

In reply to UKC Articles:

I thought it was fun, light hearted, pleasant. It doesn't say everything that there is to be said about climbing, but I don't think that was the aim.

(There's nowt so queer as other folk's senses of humour - I found the two "Winter climbing with Rad" articles earlier this year only very mildly ammusing, while others obviously found them very funny. I didn't feel the need to post to say that they didn't appeal to my sense of humour, though.)

In reply to fimm:

*amusing*

In reply to fimm:


Each to their own. I didn't think it said anything about climbing but did say a lot about the author.

In reply to climbingpixie:



Great response lol

Regards
Andy

In reply to Tall Clare:


Clearly you haven't been at Pule Hill when my ripped physique has been scrabbling up VSs in gale force winds!

In reply to UKC Articles:

I always thought it slightly odd how unsexy people look down the wall - or maybe it's just me.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Considering some of the responses so far I'm a little hesitant to say this, but by and large I agree with this article. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is "all about sex" but I certainly won't deny that I've enjoyed the view from time to time. Why not?

In reply to Sivoh:

But the the "view" is everywhere and not only on a climbing wall. How this makes climbing different from running in the park, shopping etc I dont know.


Quite pointless article imho

In reply to Sivoh:

I felt that it often seemed to almost contradict itself from one sentence to another. So finding an agreement or disagreement point was tricky.

An elaborate troll by the author?!

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Well that's a first, I've never been accused of being a troll before. You should know better BS!! :P

In reply to UKC Articles:

"...the smell of hormones came wafting over from the clutch of semi clad young men skulking around the base of the bouldering wall."

The author clearly missed the not-very-subtle homoeroticism emanating from under most of the bouldering walls I've ever seen. In her own words:

"Come on, it's not because they are 'hot' from all that 'hard' climbing"!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Weird comments! I enjoyed the article and thought it was voicing the unspoken thought of many at the wall (assuming others think like me!). What disappoints me is that it would have been very difficult for a man to write a similar article without coming across as a smarmy lech.

There is a clear sexuality in climbing that is less prevalent in other sports (partly as many sports are single sex) and it is also good, in my opinion, that it remains silent and unremarked upon.

Good article - please write more.

In reply to Sivoh:

Noooo I was accusing Sarah Flint of the trolling.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Excellent, well-written & funny article Sarah. See you in the Peak District this weekend!

Cheers

Dave

In reply to UKC Articles: V.amusing, Jim Perrin would be proud! See 'sex and the single bothier' in Mitchell & Brown's Mountain Days & Bothy Nights (Ernst Press) for a slightly more subtle take on a similar theme.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

Looking more deeply into her logbook:

Stumper.
Buff.
The Devil's Slide?
Scrattling Crack?
Kinkyboots!

and I haven't even mentioned Pinnacle Crack.

The woman's sex obssessed...

In reply to UKC Articles:
<sigh>
Ah, right, I think I've sussed out why I still can't get a shag. I need to sell my rack, sell my ice tools and learn to simper. Or whatever.

Just one question . . . anyone know if sewing lace onto a paramo top is likely to sod up the waterproofing?


(Above post made under the influence of beer. Slaters Top Totty, FWIW. And how nice it is of the pub to provide free web access. :

In reply to Wingnut:

Hey, was watching The Apprentice and thought Margaret was you with a wig on.;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/episode-extras/article/item_100057.shtml

In reply to sutty:
<*SLAP!*>

Cheeky sod!

In reply to Wingnut:

paarp;-P

In reply to UKC Articles:

If anyone is interested I've started a blog as 'Off the Wall'at the online Climber magazine.

From
'sex obsessed trolling' Sarah