Ze Future, Part II

So I was thinking more this weekend about technology and how climbing ethics might have to change over time to accommodate for information gleaned before an attempt on a route.

And that’s when I had a Nostradamus-like prediction: The Tech Point is soon upon us.

Yes, the tech point. We all know red points, and pink points, and onsights, and flashes. But once ipads and the like start getting embedded in every damn thing like our fingernails, we’re gonna need a standard for what it means when you’ve sussed a project to death via the internet before you climb it. And that’s the tech point. Someone call 8a.nu and tell ‘em to update the score card.

And as should always be the case in matters of the future and malicious technology, we need only to turn to Keanu Reeves for guidance. Sure, we’re just looking at video clips now in 2010, but eventually the tech-point will become way more sophisticated, as Keanu shows us:

Example 1. Keanu in Johnny Mnemonic, using virtual reality to work out the tricky beta for some burly project that’s rumored to be in the 5.16 range.

Example 2. Keanu in The Matrix, downloading stuff straight to the brain case. This is probably the most efficient way to go if you don’t mind having a giant USB port in the back of your head. It beats working a hangboard, in my humble opinion. I'd lose the trenchcoat before roping up, though.

The question is, what will you do? Will you be one of the “hippies” who are all righteous and “pure” about climbing, but who couldn’t crimp their way out of the stone cellar prison in Silence of the Lambs? Or will you embrace change and the tech point and crush like Keanu?


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