Dear Urban Climbing Idiot,

Short of doing your drinking in the middle a nice, flat farm field, two ideas come to mind: don't drink alone and look at your drinking habits with an eye on getting drunk less frequently. Take your friends with you to the bar, and let them know ahead of time about your Spiderman tendencies. Pick friends who would stop you from climbing, rather than ones who would encourage you in the name of high-flying entertainment.

It's good you recognize your actions are dangerous. From there you might want to ask yourself: Why? Do you tend to drink so much you lose control? A counselor, chaplain, or group can help you get to some answers — and keep your feet on the ground to boot. Help, fast, is also in order if the alcohol puts you in such a state that you're not even aware that you're up another building without a lift. There's more on these ideas in the GAA! archived answer Trouble Controlling My Drinking. In addition, if you are a student at Columbia, you can make an appointment at Counseling and Psychological Services (call x4-2878) to speak with a counselor about any concerns you have about your drinking, and the dangerous behavior it seems to inspire.

A rock-climbing class, while sober, might give you a respect for the highly-skilled sport of scaling that will make you think twice about doing it drunk. The highs that you can realize from "controlled" climbing could also diminish your desire to do it at the drop of a pint.

Here's to healthy climbing and healthy drinking,

Alice

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