The Space of Content in the Community

McLuhan was right in observing how "any medium has the power of imposing its own assumptions on the unwary" (15). In their own observations and usage of climbing mediums, climbers unintentionally grappled with and were affected by the pitfalls, intentions, and benefits of each medium. Perhaps these assumptions are correct, perhaps not, but the most common assumption was that all mediums are irrelevant compared with physical experience. Physical experience is a main component of climbing, that much is true. Media should not be discounted so easily, though. McLuhan offers an argument for the space media in climbing occupies.

McLuhan further notes that "Our conventional response to all media, namely that it is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot. [...] The effect of the medium is made strong and intense just because it is given to another medium as 'content'." (18).  The simple existence of the wealth of content in the climbing community is a testament to its necessity and usability. How media is used is important to this project - that is one of the main questions, in fact - but the content of climbing existing within other forms of media proves that all mediums of climbing are relevant. How media is used cannot even be reasonably agreed upon. Below are a list of how media is used, and climbers' thoughts on how it should be used, just to prove that the "how" has very little impact on its strength via existence alone:

• For a new climber, books should always take a supplementary role. They are not a catch all learning tool. It is impossible to completely convey the nuance and breadth of techniques in a book. For the experienced climber, books are a fantastic tool for expanding your knowledge base. 
• I think the role books currently have is an excellent one. They present almost a complete guide to climbing. If you are dedicated, patient, and willing to practice, books can be used as an excellent resource. If you're impatient, don't practice, and skim through them, they will not give you the same benefit.
• Books should be used as a method of teaching on the ground how to handle stressful or dangerous situations before someone is put in the position where they may have to handle it in a life-threatening situation. People need to practice skills first before they should use them in any real situation. Books can allow people to become more comfortable with this knowledge, but it should still be checked by another person who knows what they are doing.
• Books can be problematic as some unskilled climbers will use book-based knowledge to assume they know a skill (or know a skill better) than someone truly proficient in that skill, which in turn can be dangerous. There is a big disconnect between reading and doing, and that gap needs to be filled by a real-life experience, preferably with someone who knows more and can show you what they are doing.
  
• Books and forums are great for drawing climbers into the sport. I think everyone should branch out and use them from time to time, although I don't ever think that books can be used as the final stop for learning.
  
• Books currently don't have a big role in the climbing community, and those who do read them often use them as an ego boost to say they know more, rather than using mentors who will actually teach you right. Books are also expensive and the same information is usually available for free online on a variety of websites. Technique comes more from practice and tips from people, it's hard to turn to books for that.
  
• I think that there should usually always be a written resource because so much of climbing is situational and times when there are "perfect situations" can be rare. I tend not to trust other people to be complete and exhaustive in descriptions and teaching, especially depending on the audience. I think that even though climbing is a very visual and tactile experience, much of the knowledge can be displayed in written or prepared form (with a consensus/authoritative review to its completeness) before it is taught "on site".
  
  

In short, the how does not seem to matter so much as the mere fact that this group of climbers was still consistently turning to supplementary sources for climbing material. The medium varied from person to person, as did the usage and opinions, but the end result was that all media shared space with the physical practices and oral traditions of climbing.