Choss Master vs Choss Monkey

Choss Master – a person who enjoys climbing on choss…. Now just a second there, professor. I feel I need to take a moment this morning to clear up a misconception that is spreading in the climbing world. After bailing off a climb in Red Rocks recently, I later referred to it as “the chossiest route I’ve climbed there.” A friend replied, “but you’re the Choss Master, you love that stuff!” I’ve heard similar responses any time I diss something as too chossy, so before it goes any further, I thought I should clear up the origins of the Choss Master, and what it truly means.

The name came about when I was working at Climbing Magazine and we were finding and developing these new crags in the Roaring Fork Valley that had previously been dissed as too chossy. We, however, learned how to deal with the choss, persevere through it and clean it up, and hence “master” it into fun climbing. (see the Narrows and Thompson Creek for examples). And so came the nickname Choss Master, as in, one who masters the choss so it is climbable and fun.

Contrast that with the much more elusive Choss Monkey. This is an individual who thrives on bad rock and relishes the challenges it brings. This person usually can be found on the crumbly quartzite of Glenwood Canyon, free climbing in the Fishers and on the lofty walls of Zion. Now, I do probably have a higher tolerance for dirty and bad rock then some, but I’d still rather be climbing on good stone. When faced with the bad stuff I usually just get scared and find myself wishing for my hammer and crowbar to get things back on track. 😉

Hopefully that’ll set things straight on the difference between the two, and we can all move on with our lives. Now where’s my hammer? I found some nice choss yesterday that could use some mastering…