Author Archives: f002bd0

Talus and Bequests

Leave a reply

Customary DMC Folklore
Talus and Bequests

Decker Wentz
Hanover, NH
May 22 2019

Informant Data:

Decker Wentz is a 20-year-old sophomore at Dartmouth College. He grew up just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Decker has been rock climbing with his dad since he was four years old. He would climb about monthly with his dad, going to climbing gyms but mostly climbing at various outdoors locations. In his senior year of high school, he began to really take ownership of climbing as an activity that he loved doing, not just one that he did with his dad. When he came to school at Dartmouth, it became one of the most important things in his life, as he joined the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club (DMC) and the Climbing Team. His first DMC trip was an ice climbing trip his freshman winter, and since then he has become more and more involved in the club. Decker is now a leader in the DMC and currently holds the position of chair. He has also been quite an involved member in the social aspects of both clubs.

 

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: This piece of folklore was collected in a conversation with Decker at Baker-Berry library. Decker first learned about the custom of giving out Talus and bequests in a conversation with other members of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club his freshman year prior to it occurring that year. At the last feed of every spring (see item: The Feed), the members of the DMC honor their graduating seniors. Similar to every feed, members of the club come together and meet in the basement of Robinson Hall (“Robo”), but the last feed of the spring it is particularly meant to focus on the graduating seniors. The event is usually run by one of the chairs of the DMC.

 

  • Cultural Context: This piece of folklore is exclusive to the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club in particular. It serves as a way to bring together the members of all class years to say thank you and goodbye to the departing seniors, giving them something to remember their time in the club as well as having them give back to it one last time. It also gives the seniors an opportunity to say thank you to those younger than them and offer some departing remarks and recognize some of the relationships that are important to them and have been made possible as a result of the DMC.

 

Text:

The last feed of the spring term every year is focused on the graduating senior class. In a form of give-and-take, the members of the club give the seniors a parting gift in the form of the book Talus, and the seniors give bequests, which are usually items of clothing (but can be almost anything) that have been passed down through the club every year, and had previously been passed on to them. Talus is a book written by Dean Engle in 1993 which is mainly a history of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club and describes all sorts of crazy exploits performed by past members of the DMC. Each senior’s copy of Talus is left out for a week prior to the last feed and made available for members of the club to sign and leave a note for the graduating senior, similar to a yearbook but often more personalized. At the feed itself, one club member will give a short speech to honor each senior and what they have meant to the club before giving them their copy of Talus as a way to remember their time in the club. After receiving their copy, each senior then gives back to the club by bequeathing all the club-specific items they have been given over their four years to underclassmen, often citing a reason for giving each one to each person in particular and recognizing relationships and people that have been particularly important to them and to the club as a whole. These are items that have a history of having been in possession of club members for a very long time, continuously getting passed down from graduating members back to younger members in the club. In this sense, the last feed serves as a bit of a give-and-take, fosters continuity within the club, and gives recognition to the seniors as well as giving them a way to remember their time in the club.

 

Sam Drew, Age 20
Hinman Box 0250, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
Russian 013
Spring 2019

 

“Bring Sally Up”

Leave a reply

Dartmouth Climbing Music Folklore
“Bring Sally Up”

Sarah Jennewein
Hanover, NH
May 22, 2019

Informant Data:

Sarah Jennewein is a sophomore at Dartmouth College. Sarah grew up in Tampa, Florida with her two brothers and sister before coming to Dartmouth. Sarah only began climbing when she got to Dartmouth. She was a member of a Hike and Climb freshman trip. While she initially found climbing at Dartmouth to be intimidating, after going on a climbing trip with Dartmouth students during a break freshman year, she fell in love. She now climbs and attends mountaineering events regularly. She is a member of the Dartmouth climbing team and has the designation of a leader in the mountaineering club for sport climbing, ice climbing, and top rope climbing. Climbing has made Dartmouth feel like home for Sarah.

 

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: This piece of folklore was collected via a video interview with Sarah Jennewein while at Dartmouth College. Sarah learned about this piece of folklore as a freshman on the Dartmouth Climbing Team. The idea of doing push ups to “Bring Sally Up” was not started by the Dartmouth Climbing Team, but the tradition of the Dartmouth Climbing Team routinely performing push ups to the song has become an integral  method of training and bonding. The song was brought to the Dartmouth Climbing Team by senior Matt Rube. The tradition is typically performed in the climbing gym at Dartmouth, but members of the team perform it at various locations whenever they are with teammates; for example, the activity has occured at airports traveling to and from climbing activities as well as at crags. Typically only climbers participate. The tradition at Dartmouth began as a method of conditioning during recruitment for the climbing team. The song is still used for conditioning purposes, but it also serves as a fun way to encourage friendly competition. The informant said it has become a great bonding method for the team.

 

  • Cultural Context: Despite common misconceptions, climbing is a social sport. The Dartmouth Climbing Team competes in competitions where each member’s score will contribute to how the team as a whole does. The climbing team trains together and will give feedback while climbing on how best to complete a climb. As such, team bonding and joint training is integral to a successful team. The social nature of the “Bring Sally Up” competition fosters team bonding and a collaborate urge for improvement. Additionally, climbing requires incredible physical strength; quite often, climbers will need to pull themselves up with only their arms without a foothold. Arm strength training, as practiced in the “Bring Sally Up” tradition, is essential for successful climbers.

 

Text:

(While i have recorded the Dartmouth climbing tradition of “Bring Sally Up” as closely as possible to Sarah’s exact words based on notes taken during the interview, this is ultimately my own phrasing of Sarah’s words.)

“Bring Sally Up” refers to a tradition of doing push ups throughout the duration of the song. Each time the song says ”Sally Up”, the teammates push up, and when the song says “Sally Down”, the teammates hold the downwards position of the push up until the song says to go up again. The song is three and a half minutes long, and 31 push ups are performed throughout the song. The tradition was brought to Dartmouth by senior Matt Rube. The song is officially called “Flowers” by Moby. The main lines of the song are “Green Sally up and green Sally down

Lift and squat, gotta tear the ground”, which are repeated multiple times. Occasionally throughout the song other lines such as “Old Miss Lucy’s dead and gone

Left me here to weep and moan” are added, causing the participants to have to hold themselves in the downward push up position until the song again instructs them to rise. Many participants, including my informant, often substitute the word “Green” for “Bring”, thereby interpreting the song as a more direct order for when to do the pushups. It is very difficult to complete all 31 pushups, creating friendly competition over who is able to do so.

 

Kelly Peterec, Age 20
Hinman Box 3552, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
Russian 13
Spring 2019

 

Thumb On Rope

Leave a reply

Dartmouth Climbing Customary Folklore
“Thumb On Rope”

Sarah Jennewein
Hanover, NH
May 22, 2019

Informant Data:

Sarah Jennewein is a sophomore at Dartmouth College. Sarah grew up in Tampa, Florida, before coming to Dartmouth. Sarah only began climbing when she got to Dartmouth. She was a member of a Hike and Climb freshman trip. While she initially found climbing at Dartmouth to be intimidating, after going on a climbing trip with Dartmouth students during a break freshman year, she fell in love. She now climbs and attends mountaineering events regularly. She is a member of the Dartmouth climbing team and has the designation of a leader in the mountaineering club for sport climbing, ice climbing, and top rope climbing. Climbing has made Dartmouth feel like home for Sarah.

 

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: This piece of folklore was collected via a video interview with Sarah Jennewein while at Dartmouth College. Sarah learned about this piece of folklore as a freshman on the Dartmouth Climbing Team. This tradition is not unique to only the Dartmouth Climbing Team, but it is routinely performed by the team each time they climb outdoors. This tradition is performed by members of the team only; non-climbers typically do not participate. The “thumb on the rope” game is played specifically when climbing outdoors with a top rope. At Dartmouth, this usually means that the game is performed at a climbing location called Rumney or on a trip during a school break to other outdoor climbing locations. Typically, only a small group of all climbers are present on these trips, and the game is performed as the group is getting ready to end the climbing for the day. Specifically, this game occurs as the top ropes are being taken down. Sarah noted that the tradition gives a sense of bonding and fosters the feeling of family. She added that the game is both fun and competitive, and it provides a forum for jokes and entertainment. Whoever manages to get their thumb on the top of the rope has bragging rights within the community.

 

  • Cultural Context: The two major types of climbing are bouldering and sport climbing. Unlike bouldering, sport climbing involves being roped in and wearing a harness while being belayed by another climber on the ground due to the dangerous heights that the climbers can reach. Top rope climbing is a type of sport climbing. The rope is attached to the climber,  passed up through an anchor at the top of the climb, and then passed down to a belayer at the bottom of the climb. At Dartmouth, top rope climbing is not performed in the climbing gym on campus, as the climbing gym on campus is a bouldering gym. Therefore, no ropes are used in the Dartmouth Climbing Gym, and the “thumb on rope” game cannot be played unless the climbers are not on campus. Dartmouth climbers typically top rope climb at an outdoor area called Rumney or on break trips. This item of folklore is a fun and competitive way for team members to bond after top rope climbing.

 

Item:

(While i have recorded the Dartmouth climbing tradition of the thumb on the rope game as closely as possible to Sarah’s exact words based on notes taken during the interview, this is ultimately my own phrasing of Sarah’s words.)

The “thumb on rope” game does not have an official name, but rather is a game commonly known by the climbing community. This game is played by members outside of the Dartmouth community, but these are the specific rules that the Dartmouth community adheres to. When disassembling the setup of a top rope climb after everyone has finished climbing, the top rope must be allowed to fall from the anchor at the top of the climb. Before the rope hits the ground, if you are able to catch the end of the rope within a thumbs length of the end so that you can put your thumb on the very top, someone who you are climbing with has to buy you a beer or other beverage.

 

Kelly Peterec, Age 20
Hinman Box 3552, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
Russian 013
Spring 2019

 

The Feed

Leave a reply

Dartmouth Climbing Polymodal Folklore
The Feed

Marlee Montella
Hanover, NH
May 22, 2019

 

Informant Data:

Marlee is a sophomore at Dartmouth College from Nevada. She began climbing her freshman year of high school before attending Dartmouth. Marlee originally started climbing indoors. Once she got to Dartmouth, she participated in team trips outside as well as continued bouldering in the Dartmouth Climbing Gym. Marlee is now a member of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club and is on the Dartmouth Climbing Team. She often participates in break trips. Marlee says that climbing has helped shape her Dartmouth experience; climbing was the first group that she joined on campus. When she started, it was a small group and she was one of the few people that had climbed before. She noted that the climbing community is fun and a great friend group.

 

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: This piece of folklore was conducted via an interview with Marlee at Sigma Delta sorority. My informant learned about this tradition after joining the climbing team and participating with friends.The Dartmouth Mountaineering Club (DMC) Feed occurs weekly and is hosted by members of the DMC. Typically, only members of the DMC or the climbing team attend. The feed is shaped by the people that attend as mingling and informal conversation is a large part of the appeal. The feed serves both as an opportunity to present any important information that members of the climbing community should know about as well as a chance to enjoy spending time with fellow climbers and to meet new members. Marlee noted that it is a  good chance to see other people in the climbing community that you do not always see and to meet and talk to other DMC members. The Feed is both a fun bonding experience and a functional way to establish bonds between members of the climbing community.

 

  • Cultural Context: Marlee noted that the Dartmouth Climbing Team is not part of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club, but rather is a separate subset of the overarching Dartmouth Outing Club. Members of the Dartmouth Climbing Team are encouraged to attend the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club Feeds, as climbers make up a significant portion of members in the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club. The Feed is an important way to bring together members of these communities to establish bonds within the community and to have a forum to present important information to the community.

 

Item:

(While i have recorded the Dartmouth climbing tradition of  The Feed as closely as possible to Marlee’s exact words based on notes taken during the interview, this is ultimately my own phrasing of Marlee’s words.)

The Feed is a dinner that occurs every Tuesday evening with the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club and the Dartmouth Climbing Team. This specific tradition is unique to Dartmouth College. Each week, two members volunteer to cook for the rest of the community. The funds are provided by the Dartmouth Outing Club. Typically, one large meal such as tacos or chile will be cooked, and there will be a vegetarian option. Participants bring their own bowl to be ecologically friendly. Typically, all attending members will participate in an introduction game with questions such as “Tell us your name, your year, where you are from, and if you could lactate anything what would it be”. People mingle and leaders of the communities will present any important information such as upcoming events and trips. Occasionally guest speakers relevant to the climbing community will present. The number of people attending the feed fluctuates widely, and attendance is not mandatory.

 

Kelly Peterec, Age 20
Hinman Box 3552, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
Russian 13
Spring 2019

Jug Rash and Callus Mapping

Leave a reply

Climbing Status Symbol
“Jug Rash and Callus Mapping”

Emma Rafkin
Hanover, New Hampshire
May 19, 2019

Informant Data:

Emma Rafkin is a 20-year-old student in her second year at Dartmouth College. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA on September 13, 1998. Emma’s mother is a doctor and her father is a lawyer. Emma has two older siblings: a brother and a sister. Her family origins are Eastern European Jewish. She describes her family background as “nomadic”. Emma is white and upper-middle class. Emma has been climbing since she was 9 years old. Her parents do not climb, but her older siblings both climb: her sister started climbing before her, and her brother started climbing only recently. Emma has been involved with the climbing community in Chicago since it started; she was a member of the first climbing gym in the city and her coach founded the first chain of climbing gyms in Chicago. From elementary school until she graduated from high school, Emma was a competitive climber. She no longer climbs competitively but enjoys hanging out with climbers at Dartmouth and climbing occasionally for fun.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context:

Calluses are layers of skin that build up in areas of the body that are frequently used in chafing or high-load bearing activities. Calluses on the hands are an incredibly important part of being a climber. Climbing requires bearing most of a person’s body weight on just the fingers and toes; this causes calluses to build up on a climber’s hands. These calluses serve two practical purposes: they blunt the pain of placing a large amount of weight on a small area of skin, and they (sometimes) increase a climber’s grip on a surface. Calluses are so important that climbers will avoid any activities that remove them or soften the skin on their hands. High-level climbers especially will not swim in chlorinated water or use lotion of any kind.

Because of their importance, calluses are a point of pride for many climbers. In fact, professional climbers with large social media followings will post pictures of their callused hands on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. These photos are most often posted when the climber in question has bleeding hands, signifying that despite having many thick and impressive calluses, they still did such difficult climbs and pushed themselves so hard that it ripped their calluses open. These photos and the culture around calluses thus act as a status symbol within the climbing community, both in who has the most impressive calluses and who climbs the hardest.

Social Context:

This folklore was collected during a conversation between Olivia and Emma. Olivia is a newer climber, and Emma has often helped explain parts of climbing culture that are new and unfamiliar to Olivia. The collection of this folklore came about when Emma began to compliment Olivia about the status of the calluses on Olivia’s hand, noting that the number of calluses and thickness of calluses on her hand was growing.

Emma noted that calluses are a common topic of conversation within the climbing community. After a particularly hard climb or a session in the climbing gym, a climber might proudly show their calluses to another climber. If a person hasn’t climbed in a while and their calluses have gone away, they might complain to a friend of theirs that they’re getting rusty because “they don’t even have a jug rash anymore”. If not directly stated, Emma noted that climbers sometimes assess other climber’s calluses during a handshake. It’s very rare that a climber would mention someone else’s calluses unprompted, but it is common for a climber to start a conversation about themselves and their calluses

 

Text:    

[I have recorded the use of calluses as a status symbol not exactly as Emma told it but as close as possible with the notes that I took. This is meant to be an accurate representation of her words, but is ultimately in my own phrasing]

The location and intensity of calluses on a climber’s hand is used to assess a climber’s abilities. A climber who only has calluses on their palm, for example, is a lower-level climber because they are using hand holds on the wall that allow them to get their entire hand on the hold. These holds are the easiest ones in the gym. The calluses on the palm are called a “Jug Rash”. These are the first calluses you’d get as a beginner climber.

As a climber gets better and begins to use smaller and more difficult holds, their calluses will move up their fingers. Eventually, the best of the best climbers will have calluses on the very tips of their fingers because they are using the most difficult holds available. The localization of calluses is thus considered to be a proxy for one’s talent as a climber, and is a status symbol within the community.

   Olivia Hunter
22 N Park St., Apartment 201, Hanover NH
Dartmouth College
Russian 13
Spring 2019