But competitiveness among climbers is not limited to sport climbing. There is competitiveness in trad too I am sorry to break it to you, especially for "trophy" climbs, just as in sport, mountaineering, and ice.
A little friendly competition is good for motivation and advancing the sport. I hang around with climbers, male and female who are all competitive in a friendly way and we definitely elevate each other's "game" in a good way.
I agree with you that emulation is a great think and that it exist in trad. It is an old discussion. The text of the "manifeste of 21" signed by Edlinger discussed of that and they clearly identify that kind of competition amount alpinist who, to have founding to climb, will kill themselve in trying very hard thing.
The text of the 21 was wrote that the institulization of the competition will change the motivation of the climber. With competition, the game will be to became better than the other. Every think will be good to win: humiliation, insult... Look at the text of ed esmond above: "i" as I so superior; I have the true ethic; very very very old; In reading that, do you thing that you "definitely elevate each other's "gamme"?
In the manifeste of the 21 they are not for competition because they think that the activity most be use to have a better knowledge of ourselve. It is wrote to favorise personal development and autonomy. A 5.6 climber is as good as a 5.9 one. But a 5.9 one will bring the 5.6 one to discover new route, new technique or just be friend because they have fun. They never say that competition is not good. It is the institutionalization of the competition that is bad and it is actually what is happening.
In other post, some climber told me that Edlinger was not a sport climber because he do a 5.11+ bare feet. But "smart pig" described virtually a sport ethic in his post where the climber hang on a bolt pull themselve and try against and against a move. It is fantastic to see a route like "take it or leave it" and even as a trad climber, I dream to be able to climb it (pratically impossible for me). I respect a hero in sport climbing
In an other thread, I think that you, sneoh, describe the toilet paper in rumney, other talk about erosion, too many bolt, over crowding, etc. This is also an other version of sport, as bad as smoking and pissing in a river (edlin. don't smoke
in the river I think).
One other negative aspect with sport climbing is that you try to impose your ethic of climbing by eliminating the trad ethic(humiliating, insult...) In fact, you ridiculise the ethic that your father and the father of your father make to resolve a problem what ever it is: 5.6 or 5.12. Laughing at other is the most easiest thing that an idiot can do. Building an ethic, or two ethic of climbing to allow more people to participate and have fun to climb is not a stupid task. Particularly if it is to allow some people to use climbing for personnel development and be more competant at work. One of my friend had a job when he "go for it" in an interview as we do when we anticipate a move in trad.
