The topless option is available

You know why I like climbing at Mission Cliffs?

Because it is a gym where I can take my shirt off. haha. Or, at least, I can wear a wifebeater to workout in and not get a second look. Well, that is, unless I wore this wifebeater (although this is San Francisco, and, as a young, white - and hipster-ish - male, I could maybe work the irony angle to the maxxx). haha.

Still, even though it's (mostly) all good, it's a little intimidating (sort of) and I hesitate to do it too often because there's plenty of folks there that are totally ripped (and, I guess, something to aspire to, if I could drink a little less beer.. yeah right!). haha. It'd be one thing if I was climbing insane routes or something.. then you can get away with anything. While I'm getting better, I'm not that good (yet) to have free reign of the gym, fashion-wise.

On that note, even though it is generally cool, there are certain unwritten rules to be able to take your shirt off and it not be *too* garish an act (i.e. to not look a little like a bit of a tool). haha. I've discussed this before with a climbing partner or two and the general consensus is that you need to at least be doing 11c's to be having your shirt off while top roping. If you are leading, you can drop it down to 10d's or something. Bouldering, let's say V4/V5 is the lowest we can go. I tried to posit that there should be some allowance for temperature, like for every 5 degrees above 75, you can drop the minimum rating by one. But at least one climbing partner nixed that idea; what a hardass. haha.

So where does that leave us in the debate? I mean, no one is *really* counting, but, well, I'm sure some of the regulars are.. if only subconsciously. And, I guess, it's lucky that I happen to be climbing at the aforementioned levels - for top-roping anyway - so, again (I guess) I can get away with it. Still, in my own topless-man-algebra (who knew there was such a mathematics?), I make sure that there are less than a certain amount of people in the gym before it's all good (with me). Yeah, so many variables. Or, rather, too much thought towards the topic.. haha.

In any case, it ends up being sorta rare that I actually take my shirt off; my mode lately has been in sleeveless shirts (including a new black one I picked up at Crossroads this past week). Still, the option is available, and that is something I can appreciate. ;)