Insiders laughing at outsiders is normal behavior, if perhaps not very attractive. It's nice she tried climbing. It's not surprising she got the terminology wrong. I doubt we'd do any better with her field.

Looking at the other stuff on her blog, it does seem like she's writing as a journalist and not just keeping a diary, so maybe her standards should have been higher. But really, no non-climbing journalist has ever done any better than that, so why would we expect her to?

She'd be advised to not come here to watch us laughing at her but I think we've got a certain right to snicker amongst ourselves in our smug little corner of the internet. We don't have that much to feel superior about.

HAHAHA! I'm with Rich on this one -- she is the anchor of a major network primetime news show! She put the piece on a CBS blog. It would have taken all of 5 minutes for her to consult with her guide for the day to have him correct the facts and terminology.

That said, good on her for getting out and experiencing the pursuit that gives us all here in this forum so much pleasure.

Sure we do, we're trad climbers. We're better than other climbers. For example, when we clip one of those beefy, fixed angle iron pitons at the crux of a climb (like say, Roseland), we do so with the purest intentions, and with an eye toward honoring the historical aspect of the route.

Despite my feelings about giving Noobs a break, I must admit this is bad. Then going back to look at it more critically I also noticed it is on a CBS new web page. They should be as embarrassed as she. Just because I’m inclined to give someone a break, doesn't mean they shouldn't be embarrassed.

(Note: Nerdom posted the CBS part while I was writing)

PS: and after reading her bio link, she really, really, really ought to know better. Believe it or not I barely knew who she was. More proof I don't watch TV.

All you people need something real to do. In fact I need something to do other then to read this dribble in which cost me about 2 minutes of my life which I'll never get back.

A. It's Friday and work is winding down.
B. Based on your 2000+ posts you are all of a sudden concerned about the time wasted in your life you may never recover???
C. Glass houses
D. Looks like a great weeknd for climbing

Cheers