This video has been nominated as a duplicate of this video by Boise_Lib. If this nomination is seconded with *isdupe, the video will be killed and its votes transferred to the original.

There are a lot of sports. A blanket statement condemning them all as worthless is a little over the top. Why would you think that all sports are a "drain" on humankind? What's wrong with being healthy and getting exercise in an enjoyable way? Cycling, rock climbing, jogging, martial arts, etc. People that care about these things are unintelligent for some reason?

>> ^chilaxe:

>> ^residue:
you're kidding, right? What about curling??
>> ^chilaxe:
They're aware anybody who cares about sports is not very smart, right?


Why would we encourage activities that are a drain on humankind?
21st century workers don't subsidize the 20th century masses so that they can get drunk and watch a ball or ball-substitute go from point A to point B.
There are real intellectual ventures to engage in that make everyone better off, including ourselves.

>> ^BoneRemake:
What I am about to say is a lie:
nochannel
Sme4r is too much of an R-Tard to know channels

Thanks for the encouragement! I will definitely try it out someday, but how soon, I can't say right now. It does look very cool though, can't deny it!
In reply to this comment by residue:
totally agree, once you get going it can be really addicting, which rocks. You really should consider rock climbing, I think per capita it's one of the best workouts and it doesn't feel like working out at all. Huge thrill, not dangerous at all, addicting and as challenging as you want to make it. If you can find a gym, that's a nice safe place to start and you don't need to get on-rope either. Plus, there's no real ceiling to how good you can get. I got tired of running because even running daily and on weekends for distance, I wasn't really getting much faster, and running longer just takes more and more time.

Keep up the good work!

totally agree, once you get going it can be really addicting, which rocks. You really should consider rock climbing, I think per capita it's one of the best workouts and it doesn't feel like working out at all. Huge thrill, not dangerous at all, addicting and as challenging as you want to make it. If you can find a gym, that's a nice safe place to start and you don't need to get on-rope either. Plus, there's no real ceiling to how good you can get. I got tired of running because even running daily and on weekends for distance, I wasn't really getting much faster, and running longer just takes more and more time.

Keep up the good work!

In reply to this comment by EDD:
Thanks - and great to hear about you too! I don't know much and I've seen even less of mountain climbing, but I gotta say, I'm starting to see the appeal and maybe one day I'll try my hand in it - for now and for at least a year yet I'll be primarily a runner/triathlete though. High five for us both turning turning our lives around! Don't you just love the addiction and the post-workout high? :

In reply to this comment by residue:
awesome story! I was in horrible shape long ago and got sick of it.. now I'm an avid rock climber and run a couple half marathons each year. I don't think I ever want to do the full...

In reply to this comment by EDD:
I'm going to work out and work out, and work on it, and keep pushing myself until I can do at least one.
Seriously.

Let me elaborate a bit. A year ago I was a complete couch potato. I couldn't jog for more than a kilometer, couldn't do more than 6 or 7 consecutive pushups - near-zero marks on a fitness scale, basically. That all changed this April, when I finally decided to get of my (fat) ass. I'd already started gradually changing my eating habits since year's end 2010, and in April I finally started working out. For half a year I've been allocating somewhere between an hour and two and a half practically each day for workouts; running almost every other day and in between - also every other day - did bodyweight exercises: started with these, built a routine around them, but recently substituted it for a weightlifting program in a gym. I've lost some 15 kg, I've done the 100 pushups program (yup, pretty much anyone can do it, and in less than six months, too), recently ran my first half-marathon (1:47, very proud of that time), and I'm aiming for 2 marathons (NYC among them, hopefully), a 70k ultra, and a long-course triathlon next year.

So because this is so inspiring to me, and because I want to be able to do what he does, and because I realize now that anyone who sets their mind to it and works towards it relentlessly can do it, let's *doublepromote

It's a common exchange between the climber and the belayer during rock-climbing. The belayer says "on belay" or "belay on" before the climber starts climbing to tell them that they are ready, meaning the rope is set up and it's attached through the belay device properly. Sometimes the climber asks if the belayer is ready by saying "on belay" and the belayer responds "belay on" The climber says "climbing" before they start and the belayer responds "climb on" as the final ready sign.

A common exchange ritual before climbing would go as follows (for some):
Climber: "on belay"
Belayer: "belay's on"
Climber: "climbing"
Belayer: "climb on"

>> ^shagen454:

What is that from? We used to give this rock climbing kid a hard time in junior high and used to say that to him, but I have no idea of where it originated. >> ^brycewi19:
Belay on!

What is that from? We used to give this rock climbing kid a hard time in junior high and used to say that to him, but I have no idea of where it originated. >> ^brycewi19:

Belay on!

There's a general appreciation and awe of an exceptional talent. No one's going to ....


Yep, everyone is just going to admire and respect and see the attention it gets, but not do - because everyone has an honest and mature understanding of their own limitations. No one (not even a few) would make that kind of mistake. Sorry I didn't realize that.

My "specious" argument is intended to put into perspective the risks that are more likely to affect greater numbers of people


So was my counter argument, which was exactly the same form. Glad we agree.

A few free climbers dying every year?... I respect their choice and desire to experience something new and to take a risk.


Currently there are few rock climbing deaths, and many near misses - falls that ended in nothing because of safety gear. Thankfully, nobody will be influenced by what they see others do and leave that safety gear at home.

But even if they were to do so and more people die for essentially nothing, that's cool because we respect them for their courage to try new things. Clearly you can't "experience something new" with safety gear on, and taking risks is super valuable for its own sake (ie. why settle for the amount of risk inherent in an activity when you can add more and be cool and free and pure).

So yeah, cool, we agree on everything.

This is his risk to take and his alone.


I don't think he's doing something wrong - as you say, it's his choice, and it's not likely he's going to land on someone and kill them too. I'm OK with him taking a risk, and this specific person seems to have a good sense of the risks involved.

Again, what I don't like is this activity (climbing without being safety equipment) being promoted as the way to be a great climber. Whether he (the kid) is trying to inspire copycats or not, having a show about him is going to promote this practice, and further the dangerous idea that this is "the next level" (or something) that climbers should aim for. To be clear, I'm not saying you shouldn't be able to make a show like this or that they should be liable or something - I'm just saying I don't like it because it could have dangerous consequences, and to the extent this practice is promoted we'll see more dead climbers. There are a lot of people who climb, and if the idea gets established that "no ropes" is the cool way to go, people will be more likely to try it.

More people die in their kitchens each year. We accept that. Accidents happen.


Many more people die of heart attacks than AIDS, so why use a condom? This is specious.

But yes, you're right, accidents happen. And when they happen while you're mountain climbing, you're very glad if you've followed reasonable safety practice and you're tied to something (so it's a painful tug instead of certain death). Obviously rock climbing is never going to be perfectly safe (or even "very safe") - but companies like "North Face" (who are tied to this video) should, I think, be promoting the simple practices and equipment that make it significantly safer.

Again, I'm not trying to censor or something, and I think that - for example - Jackass is as harmless as America's Funniest Home Videos. But for an activity like climbing, people aren't always great at assessing risks and are very likely to take cues from "how the pros do it" - and are likely to feel pressure to "up their game" in doing the things other climbers do. Thus I think that no ropes climbing is a dangerous idea to promote.

This route's either a 5.12 or 5.9C1. It typically takes a team 3 days to climb. In this video, Alex does it in 2h15m.

Some route info: http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Yosemite-Valley-Half-Dome-Regular-Northwest-Face

Biscuit the Rock Climbing Dog, or: how to guarantee that your dog won't die of old age.

This video has been nominated as a duplicate of this video by chicchorea. If this nomination is seconded with *isdupe, the video will be killed and its votes transferred to the original.

*dupeof=http://videosift.com/video/Rock-Climbing-Lava-Climbing-Inside-A-Volcano