getting sporty at shelf

I enjoyed hanging out at shelf this weekend...it was the first trip I've ever taken for climbing where I camped out with other people. Usually my trips are just me and what ever rope gun I'm hanging out with.

One weird thing though...everyone was a sport climber. Sport climbers are strange. Really, really strange. Some examples:

• They give each other beta before and during climbs. That would be a good way to get your ass kicked if you're with trad climbers.
• People who have been climbing for only 6 - 8 months can climb 5.11b sport routes. That amazes me. Hell, even I climbed some 5.11 routes. How is that possible? I suck!
• They talk obsessively about climbing. Literally, from the time they get up until they go to bed. They seem to remember every move on a route, in fact, they MEMORIZE moves on routes. Weird.
• They put chalk marks on holds so they'll remember them. That seems a bit like cheating to me.
• They file holds if they are too sharp. They make new holds by knocking stuff off that's loose. They always argue that routes are over rated, or under rated. You never hear a sport climber say "that route was rated 10d and it felt like 10d".
• No helmets, so they get cranky when you knock rocks down. But then they climb on chossy shit that has loose rocks.
• They share ropes and slings. I was amazed when climbers would leave their draws on a route so someone else could climb on it.
• They hate to walk. They're like boulderers. They'll climb crap rock because the good rock is a half mile further and that's too far.
• They bring their annoying dogs that pee everywhere, bark, and eat food from your backpack (I think trad climbers are better about that, but maybe not much better)

Definitely a different scene than what I'm used to. Most of the trad climbers I've hung around talk with their feet, not their mouth. But spray is common in camp and on route. There were times when I was climbing and three different people were yelling advice to me. Or, as I was tying into a route, people would come up and say "the key hold is blah blah blah". But then they'll sit there and argue if someone red points or flashes a route "oh he climbed that two years ago so it's not a red point" or "he only flashed it because I gave him beta".

Though, to be honest, I'm enjoying sport climbing because it's convenient, easier than trad, on face rather than in cracks which I hate because they're always full of shit or snakes, and I don't have to commit to a full day of hauling up some huge face only to get lost finding the bolts at the top, then run out of water, then be starving too, and then have to hike down in my climbing shoes.

My favorite things my fellow climbers said to me this weekend:

"I won't try ice climbing because it's stupid" (whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? the closest sport to crack cocaine stupid???????????????)
"Some day I want to try a multi-pitch climb" (from a guy who had been climbing for TWENTY years! my second climb I ever did outside was a multi-pitch climb)
"All those trad routes are rated soft" (like they forget you have to put your own pro in instead of just clipping into a bolt - for the record, the FRG agrees with me on this)