UKC

...isn't it wonderful to be able to escape to the mountains, or your local crag, and leave all the madness behind for a few glorious hours - or longer.

In reply to Goucho:

I think living 20 mins from Wintours Leap has been invaluable in maintaining sanity, after the frustrations of a 9-5 job.

In reply to Goucho:


Yes definitely, I recently had two weeks away in Kalymnos without giving a thought to what was happening in the rest of the world as I couldn't connect my phone to wifi and the internet. Bliss.

In reply to Christheclimber:


So did I, but I had to listen to my companions moaning about Brexit at every opportunity

In reply to Goucho:

I don't climb any more (it needs too much time) but I love the fact that I can jump on the roadie and within minutes be on empty roads in the Ribble Valley and Bowland Fells and come home a couple of hours later mentally refreshed and physically beasted.

In reply to Goucho:


This is the main reason I climb. Just getting away from everything for a bit.
On a route, when you're completely focussed, and there's nothing else to worry about but the climb, is shear bliss

In reply to Goucho:

Yes it is but the madness remains when you come home.

Let's not bury our heads in the outdoors - get angry!

In reply to Goucho:
A break is good and a climbing break is wonderful but challenging lunacy is where human progress happens. Lunacy has been the norm in our short span on earth and yet thanks to challenge, in the last few decades, it has arguably never been further from the door. Who would chose anything before the 1960s instead of modern madness? The Fail, The Excess, The Scum and further afiield the Putinistas, Trumpettes and ISILationists may nag but the hounds remain on the leash for now. Live life and work to maintain it.

In reply to Offwidth:

A break is good and a climbing break is wonderful but challenging lunacy is where human progress happens. Lunacy has been the norm in our short span on earth and yet thanks to challenge, in the last few decades, it has arguably never been further from the door. Who would chose anything before the 1960s instead of modern madness? The Fail, The Excess, The Scum and further afiield the Putinistas, Trumpettes and ISILationists may nag but the hounds remain on the leash for now. Live life and work to maintain it.

You seem to have spectacularly missed the whole point of what Goucho was saying. In fact, you've done exactly the opposite!

In reply to FactorXXX:

This is UKC, we can all have our own points. Goucho in my view is spouting overly romanticised guff. To me climbing is more life enhancing than life escaping and I feel sorry for anyone who really needs to escape all the time....or to run away rather than face lunacy with humanity.

In reply to Offwidth:


Have you ever considered having a day off and getting over yourself?

Talk about someone being screwed down too tight. I bet you're a right barrel of laughs on a bivi.

And for the record, my life is bloody marvellous, apart from occasionally having to interact with pompous, sanctimonious bores like you.

In reply to Offwidth:


No, but the late 90s early 00's seemed quite nice. (Although admitedly I was around 10)

In reply to Goucho:
Maybe just put it down to lunacy and go climbing until you can deal with a different viewpoint without the ad hominem attacks. If your life is so great (as it seems to be from your posts) why are you talking of madness you need to escape from (and why do you need to get angry so quickly over a post on the internet?). Climbing is a widespread gift today in the west because many generations got us here. There is plenty still to be done and not everyone in the world is so lucky.

In reply to Goucho:

Something that I often discuss with other climbers is the fascinating dichotomy that exists on the UKC forums; they are simultaneously a fantastic resource for information and inspiration, and a pit of banal idiocy and vindictive spite. This thread has managed to encapsulate that perfectly. Well done chaps.

In reply to Offwidth:


I was talking about the lunacy in the world, not my life, which if you were half as bright as you think you are, you'd have understood.

As I infered earlier, I doubt either of us would want to be stuck in a lift together.

In reply to Valkyrie1968:


I agree - Mostro got a dislike for saying he lives within 20 minutes of Wintours Leap?

In reply to FactorXXX:


Why? The first part of the first sentence is in total agreement with Goucho: A break is good and a climbing break is wonderful. He's just underscoring the fact that it's a break and we need to sometimes confront the lunacy as well. Can't see what's to disagree about.

In reply to Christheclimber:

The remote and island setting of Kalymnos makes it an especially good place to really get away from it all. Surprising how one's perceptions can change just living somewhere else, even for a short time.

In reply to Goucho:

Goucho, is it not getting too cold for rock yet?

In reply to stp:


You mean confront the lunacy by wittering about it on an Internet forum, or actually doing something about it?

In reply to Goucho:

I think the crags and mountains might be busy at the weekend...

In reply to zimpara:


Too cold?