Here we have a standard meal at any ski area in the states. Free crackers with free butter, honey, and borrowed mustard from the buffet. I believe this is in Vail, Colorado.
Contrast that with what you would eat at a ski resort in Turkey:
And that's just the salad buffet. The food took up the entire length of this dining room, and was included (along with beer, wine, and ski passes) in the $90 price for the room at this all inclusive resort.
Contrast that with what you would eat at a ski resort in Turkey:
And that's just the salad buffet. The food took up the entire length of this dining room, and was included (along with beer, wine, and ski passes) in the $90 price for the room at this all inclusive resort.
Of course, all that food is in the bubble of a ski area. Nobody eats like that when they are just out camping. Instead, everyone eats like this:
Right?
This would be a typical meal, I think it is safe to say, at most climbers' campgrounds. A big pot of spaghetti cooked out of Glen's disgusting (call it, "well seasoned") camping stove. The whole thing fed probably 20 people and cost under 10 dollars.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday we stayed at a climber's "resort" on the coast of Turkey where the cafe was packed every night with climbers from Europe shelling out 13 dollars (plus beer money) a meal every night. Thirteen dollars seems kind of expensive for climbers, but I'm telling you, there wasn't a free spot in the cafe from 6 to 9 at night. We opted to cook Thanksgiving dinner on the tailgate of our car...Colorado style.
We found turkey at the store (I know, turkey in Turkey...it's too funny), dried cranberries, corn, green beans, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Breadsticks crumbled up and crushed with raisins and spice made an acceptable stuffing, and Bailey's and Hot Mulled Cider rounded out the feast. Minus the booze, for far less than 26 dollars at the crowded cafe next to our camping spot.
And the next morning we woke up to this view of the crags above our car.
The expensive European dinners isn't something I need, or would pay for even if I had the money. But amazing limestone cragging a five minute walk from the car is worth whatever price they want to charge me. That's some climbing "class" I can get used to.
The climbing was pretty incredible here. The crag is called Geyikbari (Gay uk bai ruh) You can see the caves of limestone formed behind "Buddha" in the picture above (the car used to be owned by the Hungarian Ambassador...get it? Buda?) Anyway, we spent four days climbing here in the lap of Turkish-European luxury. The temps were perfect, the camping was 7 bucks a night with hot showers and a real flush toilet, and the climbing had everything you could ask for; from overhanging jug hauls, to stalactite stems, to technical faces...and every grade too. It was just Erin and I climbing, and so we don't have many photographs, but we sure enjoyed ourselves and can't wait to go back. You just can't beat sport climbing 40 minutes away from the Mediterranean Ocean.
Of course, not all of us were sleeping in tents and cooking on the backs of our cars. This resort had about 20 cabins with private bathrooms that were totally booked. I don't know about you, but the only time I've ever payed for a indoor room on a climbing trip was when it was so cold out that my whiskey was freezing. Clearly not the case this weekend.
Then, on the ultimate end of climbing luxury, is this guy, who clearly scored some sponsors after the Salt Lake crew came down and filmed a bouldering film at his local crag.
That's about all the outdoor "classy" culture I can take, but up next...heated lift seats in the Gondola in Austria. Nope, this ain't A-Basin.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday we stayed at a climber's "resort" on the coast of Turkey where the cafe was packed every night with climbers from Europe shelling out 13 dollars (plus beer money) a meal every night. Thirteen dollars seems kind of expensive for climbers, but I'm telling you, there wasn't a free spot in the cafe from 6 to 9 at night. We opted to cook Thanksgiving dinner on the tailgate of our car...Colorado style.
We found turkey at the store (I know, turkey in Turkey...it's too funny), dried cranberries, corn, green beans, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Breadsticks crumbled up and crushed with raisins and spice made an acceptable stuffing, and Bailey's and Hot Mulled Cider rounded out the feast. Minus the booze, for far less than 26 dollars at the crowded cafe next to our camping spot.
And the next morning we woke up to this view of the crags above our car.
The expensive European dinners isn't something I need, or would pay for even if I had the money. But amazing limestone cragging a five minute walk from the car is worth whatever price they want to charge me. That's some climbing "class" I can get used to.
The climbing was pretty incredible here. The crag is called Geyikbari (Gay uk bai ruh) You can see the caves of limestone formed behind "Buddha" in the picture above (the car used to be owned by the Hungarian Ambassador...get it? Buda?) Anyway, we spent four days climbing here in the lap of Turkish-European luxury. The temps were perfect, the camping was 7 bucks a night with hot showers and a real flush toilet, and the climbing had everything you could ask for; from overhanging jug hauls, to stalactite stems, to technical faces...and every grade too. It was just Erin and I climbing, and so we don't have many photographs, but we sure enjoyed ourselves and can't wait to go back. You just can't beat sport climbing 40 minutes away from the Mediterranean Ocean.
Of course, not all of us were sleeping in tents and cooking on the backs of our cars. This resort had about 20 cabins with private bathrooms that were totally booked. I don't know about you, but the only time I've ever payed for a indoor room on a climbing trip was when it was so cold out that my whiskey was freezing. Clearly not the case this weekend.
Then, on the ultimate end of climbing luxury, is this guy, who clearly scored some sponsors after the Salt Lake crew came down and filmed a bouldering film at his local crag.
That's about all the outdoor "classy" culture I can take, but up next...heated lift seats in the Gondola in Austria. Nope, this ain't A-Basin.
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