You know what Jams my Cams? Talking. Lets talk about climbing. More specifically, lets talk about talking about climbing. Some of us do one more than the other. Time to dive into the spectrum:
Humble Crushers: “Humble, modest, never really sprayed much, in fact I can’t recall hearing him say much“. These guys climb hard. Like really hard. Sponsorship and comp wins hard. But they never say much about it, and getting them to talk about it is like pulling teeth. Guys like [name redacted] and [name redacted] (did you really think I was going to dime them out?) I call these folks ‘Climber’s climbers’, you don’t see them in the magazines or on the news feeds, but if you ask the pros you’ll see their face lose all expression as they stare into the middle distance, “Yea…. That guy is strawng“
AHP (Ancient Hard Persons): Fred Beckey didn’t have time to talk about climbing, because he was too busy getting the first ascent of everything, stealing your project, and stealing your girl. Did he write books? Lots, but they were almost entirely guidebooks. Royal gets a nod here as well – even though he wrote a trilogy about his life’s story, “Basic Rockcraft” outsells those 100:1 I’d wager.
Warrior Poets: These are guys like John Long, John Sherman, and John Gill (I see a pattern here!). These folks are well spoken enough that their ability with florid prose kept them in the magazines with thoughtful editorials long after they were no longer the hardest cats on the scene.
Pro Climbers (Pre-Social Media): In the golden age of pro climbing, the pros didn’t have to spray. They just had to hang out with the crew of Big Up, Sender, Chuck Fryberger, or Mike Call, and send hard. Without social media, the article would drop a month later, the video 3-6 months after, and unless you did something really egregious, the peanut gallery was quiet. Short the blurb you gave after the send, you didn’t have to say much.
So there you have it. Where do you fall? More importantly, do you care? You shouldn’t. Do what makes you happy so long as it doesn’t impact anyone else’s good time. If someone thinks you’re a weenie for how you enjoy the sport, that’s their problem.