I haven’t read anything Dumb on the climbing internet in a long time—mostly because I’ve blocked a few key climbing bloggers from my feed so I don’t have to read their pseudo-intellectual, purple-prosy prattle anymore. Instead I’ve been spending my time browsing much more sophisticated sites such as I Looove Climbing!, where I can ooogle Eastern European booobies to my heart’s content. But my winning streak came to an end recently when I caught wind of Chris Noble’s article for Climbing magazine: “The Mentorship Gap: What Climbing Gyms Can’t Teach You.” It’s a pretty grim read, but worth checking out. I bet most climbers will recognize some of the shittier behaviors Noble describes, from basic ethical boners to inexcusable environmental degradation. I also bet that most climbers will agree that those situations could be prevented with a better-informed climbing populace via stronger role models or “mentors.” However, I also think the author makes […]