We’re talking offensive route names, again. If you haven’t see it yet, take a look at the article prior to this, where we meticulously broke down the results of a quick, informal, poll of offensive (or are they??) route names. In that article we briefly touched on how sometimes context can help skew a series of words on the spectrum of acceptability. To that end, I’ve dug up the history of notable route names where I could, to provide context.
Buszowski’s original intent, Hau said, of using racist language to name the climbs was “a call out to overt racism of (the name) Chinaman’s Peak at the time.” Buszowki, he added, would be ‘fine’ with a rename “as long as it reflects the original intent.”
I am the Limp Wristed Faggot. The chosen name was an expression of self-deprecation. Granted, that’s not very enlightened, as it is essentially still homophobic in its derivation. Teenage boys in the 70s routinely bantered this way. We were all homophobes, even if we didn’t actually judge homosexuals themselves. At age 23, when I did the route, I was just beginning to come out of this. It’s just how we talked and acted. We were silly, ridiculous, and yes, often hurtful. Counterculture angst and all of that fun stuff.
[…]
I completed the original top rope of LWF with Michael Paul. He said, “Whoa, Limp Wristed Faggot … That’s an edgy route name. There’s a double entendre to it though, Roy. The Brits call cigarettes fags. You were so pumped (limp wristed) you couldn’t even hold a cigarette (faggot).” In fact, it was the weight of a joint which bent my wrist back, not a cigarette. I know children might be reading this, sorry about that.
So Mike Paul liked the name, because he knew those individuals prone to making hasty judgments might jump to conclusions about some homophobic derivation, (which it was initially), but that if they were a bit more worldly, they might understand the connection to British cigarette slang. To Mike, the name was a trap for presumptuous types. We were all about being well-traveled, so that was his approach to it.
Did I really think that would hold water? No.
[…]
In fact, and here’s the good part, Randy Vogel, at the time of the FA, 1984, told me he thought I would regret the name LWF. He actually changed the name to Thin Line. Thin Line! How boring, we all thought. I figured Vogel was probably doing me a favor so I just let Thin Line stand. It wasn’t until very recently that Randy told me he regretted censoring me, and that he had restored the route name to its original state.
Not long after I named that route, a young woman whom I respected very much, said to me “You should be careful how you talk about homosexuals, Roy. You never know who might be one.” Being that I actually never had any problem with homosexuality, and that I strive to be sincere in all my dealings with people, I really got what she was saying, and I grew up.
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| Orifice Affair’s Orifices (Source: Mountain Project) |
One of the problems that Julien Nadiras put up was Clarien’s Cherry. He named it after my roommate Clarien. She is the one walking around in the towel in the above video (sic)
He had been hanging off the cliff in the rain for five hours. His knuckles were raw from clearing moss, his shins were sliced bloody, he had cramps from his climbing harness.
Hanging off the cliff a short distance away, Mr. Therien’s climbing partner remarked wearily, “We deserve a parade.”
“Yeah,” Mr. Therien quipped back, “a parade of whores.”
So Parade of Whores went down on a piece of paper, attached to a map, and, according to tradition, was cemented into climbing lore.
“There is not a lot of thought process that goes into naming a route,” he says. “Words blurt out of your mouth, and whatever comes out you write down.”
“I find it sad,” Mr. Therien says, “that people can’t just be more mature, and say, ‘Hey, that’s route got a spicy name.’ ”
Patrick Paul and Richard Leversee did a route up left of WPOD in 1981. In a play on words they called their route “Black Dudes on Welfare.” Richard contacted me recently and asked that I change the name in future printings of the guidebook, which of course I will. Pat and Richard regret any offense which may have been taken. Meant as a harmless quip in 1981, this route name has not stood the test of time. They have re-named the climb “The Voodoo That We Do.”
So there you have it. A compilation of the origins of some of climbing’s more embarrassing names. Should they stay? Should they go? Clearly the tribe has spoken with respect to some of the above that have since been changed. What stories do you know? What did we get wrong? Let us know in the comments.