BURSTHave you ever had such a strong conviction about something that you needed to make a t-shirt and bumper sticker out of it?
Well, that’s what two longtime climbers are doing when it comes to calling out beta spray.
Andi McLeish has been climbing for 16 years. Once, she was told that she and a friend were climbing something wrong and should simply “think” tall to climb it the right way.
Being on the shorter side, that advice was both incorrect and unsolicited.
“A tall man watched our progress for an awkward amount of time, clearly not actually looking to join in and climb the problem,” recalled McLeish.
“When we turned to ask him if he wanted to climb in with us, he stated that no, he was wondering why we were climbing it wrong. He then proceeded to climb it using brute strength and his full reach.”
It’s just one example of beta spray, which is giving unsolicited advice on how to climb a route or problem.
And it’s a habit that seems to be more and more frequent nowadays, according to McLeish, who has worked at The Hive climbing gym for about three years.
Erica Skalenda has been climbing for 18 years. She’s been at it since she was nine, and climbs two to five days a week.
She’s also had enough of beta spraying.
“It can ruin people’s onsight or distract from a send,” said Skalenda. “It can also be an issue because some people enjoy figuring out the puzzle aspect and enjoy flailing around, figuring out the beta themselves.”
So Skalenda had an idea: create a picture of a fire extinguisher to combat beta-spraying. But she was missing one ingredient: skill with a pencil.
McLeish, on the other hand, is an illustrator. So she was able to turn Skalenda’s idea into a reality.
The end product was an eye-catching design that reads: “BETA SPRAY EXTINGUISHER.”
After McLeish made the design, Skalenda had it printed on stickers and t-shirts. Stickers are on sale at Hive Heights and Climb On Vancouver, but the t-shirts were a limited run.
It’s a good reminder that people should keep their mouths shut unless someone asks them for advice.
“The beta spray no-nos I usually see these days are different than they used to be,” McLeish shared.
The culprit is likely the proliferation of beta videos on Instagram and other social media outlets, she noted.
“They have never been taught what beta spray is, or why it isn’t always welcome,” said McLeish. “The assumption sometimes now is that getting beta prior to climbing a problem is what everyone does, so throwing it out there without asking if people want it first is common. It’s not malicious, but a lack of knowledge and experience.”
Many climbers in the gym haven’t experienced a climbing world without Instagram beta.
“Half the fun is figuring the problem out in your head,” she continued. “Embrace the failure!”
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