Climbing Beliefs

“Earl and Valerie”

BS

May 21, 2020

Informant Data:

BS is a 22-year-old student in his Senior year at Dartmouth College. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, United States on January 30, 1998. B has two older brothers who are twins and graduated college in 2017. His parents are both psychologists. His family origins are Russian, Italian, Irish, and English. His family is culturally jewish, but he does not personally identify as religious. He started climbing his freshman year of high school. He started climbing on a 9th grade class retreat, climbing was the bonding activity of the day. He and his brother started climbing together after this trip. Only him and his brother climb in his family. He was a competitive climber for all of high school. His climbing team summer camp focused on outdoor climbing. Once he was In college he transitioned to outdoor climbing. He climbs sport and trad climbing, but has spent more time sport climbing. He is also an ice climber. He was chair of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club. He teaches beginners how to climb outdoors. 

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Before large trips or ascents climbers are most worried about weather, since it is much more dangerous to be on a cliff side in bad weather than in good weather. This is especially true in big wall climbing, where it will take teams multiple days to ascend a route, meaning they will sleep on the cliff face in hanging tents. If large storms come in during this time it can be deadly. 

Social Context:  Dartmouth Mountaineering Club (DMC) has graduated a majority of the best mountaineers in history and is responsible for many first ascents. One of The DMC’s advisors started a climbing handbook with main characters Earl and Valerie. They also created a tradition of christening trips before they went with a prayer to Earl and Valerie and the pouring out of water, orange juice, and beer. These traditions were later combined into a christening and prayer to the weather gods and therefore patron gods of climbing. Later, when DMCers went to put up their own first ascents they paid homage to this tradition and named a route “A prayer to Earl and Valerie” spreading this lore to from Dartmouth to modern American climbing. This christening is done before large trips or ascents. Polymodal folklore solidifies the climbing community and keeps central values to the identity consistent. Having knowledge of these beliefs and practices helps members of a group remember and understand their origins and identity. This experience of christening is also a bonding experience for members.

Text:    

I have recorded “Earl and Valerie” as closely as I could to the way BS told it. The following description is from the notes I took during the interview, and are paraphrases of what he shared during it. 

Earl and Valerie are characters in a handbook written by a former advisor to the DMC and are Weather Gods and thus patron gods of climbing. The characters in the book teach you everything you need to know about climbing as they learn themselves. There is a lesson surrounding that you can’t climb if you don’t respect the weather, this is likely how the characters turned into Weather Gods later on. The christening is said as follows:

“water for sustenance, beer for revelry, and orange juice for good health and vitamin C!”

Each of the liquids is poured out as it is said. Some would consider it bad luck to do a large route or trip without this christening. It is also said that Earl and Valerie must be smiling on you when you attempt the route named in their honor. 

Roxanne Holden, 21

Dartmouth College

Russ 13

Spring 2020

Climbing Route: An Ode to Earl and Valerie

Climbing Vernacular

“High Grav”

MM

May 19, 2020

Informant Data:

MM is a 20-year-old student in her junior year at Dartmouth College. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States on August 22, 1999. M has three siblings: an older brother who is 23, a younger brother who is 18, and a younger sister who is 16. Her father is a radiologist and her mother is a ski instructor for young kids. She sometimes works as a substitute teacher and is currently in the process of starting her own business. Her mother’s side of the family is Chinese and her father’s side of the family is Indian and Italian. Her family is not religious. M is Chinese-Indian-Italian and upper middle class. She started climbing during her freshman year of highschool. All of her siblings climb and her mom does occasionally too. She and all three of her siblings are high-level competitive climbers. She continues to climb competitively as one of the captains of Dartmouth’s Climbing Team. She competes indoors and climbs recreationally outdoors. 

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Climbing is a unique sport because it relies on an ability to resist gravity. This is done by using your grip strength mostly to keep your body off the ground. Since you have to stay off the ground for long amounts of time you can start to feel the effect of gravity more or be more aware of it.

Social Context:  The vernacular “high grav” is used during conversations between climbers to describe the state of their climbing that day. It is often used when a climber or group of climbers feels heavy or are climbing poorly during a climbing session. It can be seen as a widely accepted excuse for not climbing as well as you normally do.  An example of the way “high grav” can be used is: “I’m not topping this climb, it’s been a high grav day.” Climbing vernacular folklore is used to create a sense of community among climbers. Knowing vernacular means that climbers are instantly accepted in different climbing locations, regardless of if they are locals. This is particularly important because climbers travel a lot to find the best climbing. The unique vernacular defines a group that is “in the know” and therefore respected more as climbers. Vernacular also promotes verbal efficiency and defines ideas that are important to the climbing community, but do not exist outside of climbing.

Text:  

I have recorded “high grav” as closely as I could to the way MM told it. The following description is from the notes I took during the interview, and are paraphrases of what she shared during it. 

The term “high grav” is used by climbers to describe days where they are having an off climbing day or are not climbing as well as they normally would because they feel heavier. This term is used both in indoor and outdoor climbing. It is usually used when a group has been training very hard or climbing for many days in a row and are particularly tired. It happens most often at the end of the climbing day. The term “high grav” is used by more experienced climbers who spend long hours climbing and care more about how their climbing is perceived by other climbers. The term comes from the feeling of being weighed down, which prevents climbers from climbing as well as they want to. This feeling is then attributed to the same feeling as there being extra gravity making a climber feel heavier. Therefore when climbers are climbing poorly they experience a feeling of higher gravity making it a “high grav” day.

Roxanne Holden, 21

Dartmouth College

Russ 13

Spring 2020

Climbing Status Symbol

“Red Point”

RY

May 7, 2020

Informant Data:

RY is a 23-year-old Dartmouth College graduate from the class of 2019. She works at Appin in Arlington, Virginia, United States. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri on October 2, 1996. RY has three younger siblings: a younger sister who is 20, a younger sister who is 15, and a younger brother who is 11. Her mom was trained in real-estate but is now a stay-at-home mom. Her dad works in construction, he mixes chemicals and figures out the best pavement method. Both parents grew up in rural parts of China and moved to the United States in the early 90s. She is Asian-American, upper-middle class. Her family is very religious. She was raised Christian. She is religious but does not fully adhere to religion the way she was taught to in her upbring. She was a figure skater growing up. She started climbing during first year trips at Dartmouth College and after injuring herself she couldn’t skate. So she transitioned to climbing regularly. No one in her family climbs. She is the former Chair of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club and taught sport climbing during College. She is an outdoor sport climber primarily and has never competed. 

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: There are two types of sport climbing: top roping and lead climbing. Top roping refers to when there is an anchor at the top of the climb that the rope feeds through. This creates a system where the climber can be pulled up a climb by a belayer, this creates a system where the climber receives some assistance from the rope and when they fall they stay in the same place. On the other hand, in lead climbing the climber must clip the rope into bolts as they go up the climb, so there is no help from the rope and if they fall, they fall to the last place they were clipped in to. Due to these differences, there is more of a sense of accomplishment if you have led a route while leading. Climbers often track the routes they have completed and there are different indicators for how they completed the route (i.e. how many falls they took).

Social Context:  The vernacular term “red point” is used during conversation between climbers to describe how they climbed a route or how they hope to climb a route in the future. The term is most used in outdoor climbing, but could be used for indoor climbing. It can only be used for lead climbing. Climbers use it to mark their progress and say what level they climb in talking to other climbers. An example of the way “red point” can be used is: “I fell last time I tried this climb, but this time I didn’t fall. I guess I have a higher red point grade now.” This is also a piece of vernacular, so it has the function of connecting the community. However, it acts more as a way for a climber to signify how good they are at climbing and therefore how respected they are in the community. 

Text: 

I have recorded “red point” as closely as I could to the way RY told it. The following description is from the notes I took during the interview, and are paraphrases of what she shared during it.

The term “red point” in climbing refers to when a climber leads a route from start to finish without falling, particularly if they have attempted the climb before and not finished it or fallen while climbing it. People red point in order to define what is meant by climbing or completing a route. The connotation of “red pointing” is you worked on it after falling before and have now done the climb well. There is a large sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with a “red point.” It is a way to define your personal progress in climbing because it describes a certain level of skill. Experienced climbers that are leading routes use this term. It is a more technical term than completing or sending a route. The term “red point” comes from the tradition of spray painting a red circle on the bottom of a climb you tried and did not complete and then filling in the circle with red once you have done it without falling. Therefore, once you have done a climb without falling there would be a red point on the bottom of the climb. 

Roxanne Holden, 21

Dartmouth College

Russ 13

Spring 2020

Climbing Vernacular

“Dirtbag”

RR

May 6, 2020

Informant Data:

RR is a 22-year-old in her senior year at Dartmouth College. She was born in Washington DC, United States on July 26, 1997. Rachel has a younger sister, who is 20 years old. Her dad works in the foreign service and her mom is an epidemiologist. Her family origins are Eastern-European Jewish. R is white, upper-middle class, and Jewish. R started climbing recreationally when she was in freshman year of high school due to her school’s outdoor program. She climbed more during her gap year and at Dartmouth College. No one else in her family climbs. She was chair of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club (DMC) and teaches people how to Sport and Trad climb. She climbs outdoors primarily. She is planning on taking time before graduate school to “dirtbag” and is currently building out a van to do so. 

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context:  The outdoor climbing community originated in Yosemite valley in the 60s as part of a counter-culture movement. The movement revolved around living long term in campgrounds, a tent, or your car. The people that lived this way climbed full-time. Climbing was their sport, passion, and lifestyle. These people have been idolized in the climbing community. They gave up a lot to live this way and therefore lived rather frugally, not paying for lodging and sometimes taking food from hotel lobbies or out of trash from other camping groups. Good climbing spots are often crowded, so the earlier a climber arrives the more access they have to climbing. Therefore, it is very advantageous to sleep near the climbing location. There are many famous climbing sites scattered across the United States so the most efficient way to get great access to all climbing is by parking your van near the location and sleeping in it overnight. The best climbers dedicate their lives to climbing full-time. There is also a dirtbag community that will climb with each other.

Social Context: The vernacular term “dirtbag” is used during conversations between climbers to describe a who a climber is or a climber’s lifestyle. The term refers only to outdoor climbers that have dedicated themselves to full time climbing and usually live out of their vans. Climbers can also use it to refer to themselves. An example of the way “dirtbag” can be used is: “I’m building out a sprinter van and I’m going to dirtbag for the next year.”  Climbing vernacular folklore is used to create a sense of community among climbers. Knowing vernacular means that climbers are instantly accepted in different climbing locations, regardless of if they are locals. This is particularly important because climbers travel a lot to find the best climbing. The unique vernacular defines a group that is “in the know” and therefore respected more as climbers. This vernacular in particular reinforces the idealized version of climbing/climbers. Vernacular also promotes verbal efficiency and defines ideas that are important to the climbing community, but do not exist outside of climbing. It can also be seen as a status symbol to be a dirtbag because it means you are serious about climbing.

Text:   

I have recorded “dirtbag” as closely as I could to the way RR told it. The following description is from the notes I took during the interview, and are paraphrases of what she shared during it.

The term “dirtbag” is used to describe a climber who has fully dedicated themselves to the lifestyle of the original Yosemite Valley climbers. It can be used as a noun and a verb. People can “go dirtbag” or someone can be a “dirtbag.” It is used by outdoor climbers. Someone is deemed a “dirtbag” if they are living out of their van or in a climbing area. A “dirtbag” typically has a carefree attitude and lack of sense of time. They are considered by the outside world to be a hippy, dirty, and poor but they are idolized in the climbing community. “Dirtbags” are experienced outdoor climbers. The term “dirtbag” comes from the dirty look of the climbers that live this way. 

Roxanne Holden, 21

Dartmouth College

Russ 13

Spring 2020