Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Clinggdiggy2 t1_j1sfp5s wrote

Reply to comment by Ok_Associate_1042 in The granite towers of the Cirque of the Unclimbables are a special sight to behold [OC] [1920x1278] by TritonTheDark

The main wall for the climbing community here is the Lotus Flower Tower, the flat looking one in the middle of the group of 3 on the left. Bucket list climb for sure.

11

ptpd t1_j1tj0y0 wrote

I thought it was unclimbable?

5

Clinggdiggy2 t1_j1tjfzp wrote

The way the story goes, the mountaineer that "discovered" the range was frustrated he couldn't summit the mountains, as he was a mountaineer not a climber, so he named them the unclimbables. Ironically enough, just over 5 years later it saw its first ascent. It's now considered one of the 50 best climbs of North America,

9

jonny_211 t1_j1tmfrt wrote

Pardon my ignorance but what is the difference between a mountaineer and a climber, don't they both climb things?

5

Clinggdiggy2 t1_j1toz6w wrote

You're absolutely right, in both instances You're climbing things (even the same mountain occasionally) it's just the means by which you get there. The TL;DR explanation is "climbing" is specifically centered around vertical cliffs, while mountaineering is a more all-encompasing sport focused on sumitting mountains. Basically climbing is more specific than mountaineering.

If you're curious to know more, look into the Yosemite Decimal System, it is how climbs/mountains are rated in difficulty (in the US) and gives a quick numerical value as to how hard a mountain is to summit (via a particular route) and gives a rough idea of what to expect.

4