Brad I really appreciate all of your hard dedicated work to the guide books you have created but what you are saying is exactly the stuff that first assents are made of. I really enjoy going to areas that no guide book exists or that has very little beta. This forces me to really study the climb and determine if it is within my ability and if it is not how to escape. This is high adventure at it's best. Several areas in the Sierra have really old and outdated guide books and I love it!
Aaron, we don't disagree with each other at all about first ascents.
I love the adventure of FAs too (Lord knows I've done a few of them). For me the fun of an FA starts with finding and doing the route. And the new route then joins the named and rated climbs in my book (which I enjoy doing too). After that it joins my lists (more fun). I enjoy the whole process.
But the "Darwinian" climbers John was posting about weren't there to do FAs (it seems), but were there just to climb. That's where my fun is different from the fun they were looking for.
I have no trouble at all with their approach, but I wouldn't enjoy starting out at a new climbing area that way (more than once I've bought a whole guidebook for a single day of climbing at a place, knowing that I'd only be there that one day).
