Game Shows: Climbing Edition

Was there a kid that didn’t look forward to game shows on sick days and snow days while growing up?  The Price is Right got me through many a cough, but game shows weren’t reserved exclusively for midday cold sweats and icy roads.  After dinner there was The Wheel of Fortune, followed by Jeopardy.  I swear my grandma would have cleaned up on The Wheel.  That woman was a crossword puzzle feign; her command of language, words, and expressions had all twenty-five of her grandchildren begging her to try out for a little rendezvous with Pat and Vanna.  Then there were the late-night gameshows I’d watch with my sisters on the weekends.  Chuck Woolery had The Love Connection on lock down years before Tinder and Grindr became a thing.  I wasn’t the most talkative kid in any of my classes, but when teachers would break out the JeopardyPowerPoint test review, you better believe I was front and center!

I don’t know when it happened, but eventually I grew out of game shows.  However, there is a bit of nostalgic residue for the classics.  That residue leads me to ask if some of the classics could hold up with a climbing theme?  The answer is a resounding YES!

Jeopardy.

I don’t know if there could be an entire series with climbing answers, but an episode or two…easy peasy!

Imagine a Video Daily Double with Alex Honnold free soloing El Cap.  Or just the basic trivia that dirtbags have etched in their brains from too many hours of watching first ascents on YouTube.

Contestant: I’ll take Summer Sends for $400 Alex.

Trebek: On September 3^rd, 2017 he sent Silence, the world’s first 9c/5.15d.

Contestant: Who is ___________? (I’ll post the correct responses in the footnotes in case you want to play along)¹

Let’s do one more.

Contestant: Dirtbags for $600 Please.

Trebek: This famous dirtbag has more first ascents than any other person who has ever lived.

Contestant: Who is ___________?²

Wheel of Fortune.

My grandma would crush this one…how about you? ProTip: Don’t waste money buying “E” if you can help it.

Contestant: Pat I’d like to solve the puzzle.

Pat: Alright.³

Here’s another just in case.

Pat: Wow, there are six L’s.

Contestant: Pat I’d like to solve the puzzle.

Pat: Alright.⁴

Family Feud.

What a game this is.  Somehow every host they hire is fulfilling in one way or another, but Steve Harvey is my absolute favorite.  He’d crush on any Family Feud theme, but could there be a rock-climbing themed Family Feud?  Yes and Yes.  The first option is to get two teams, each filled with famous climbers.  Who wouldn’t want to see Chris Sharma guess what one hundred people said when they were asked to name something that costs less than a dollar?  How about  Margo Hayes trying to figure out the most popular response to something that people haven’t done since high school gym class?  It makes me laugh just thinking about it. 

Another option is to ask one hundred climbers to name their favorite x,y,z’s.  I actually did this on Instagram.

Here is how it went…

I asked one hundred climbers to name their favorite climbing shoe, the top five answers are on the board.  I gave you two, maybe you can guess the others?⁵

After looking at the potential success of these three classic game shows given a climbing theme makeover, I am sorta inclined to think that the climbing theme could work for any game show.  The Love Connection?  Why not? The $100,000 Pyramid?  Pyramids are basically manmade mountains!  Survivor, The Amazing Race, Ninja Warrior?  Climbers are already dominating.  Wipeout?  Easy!  

Maybe it’s time for me to get back into game shows, or maybe I’ll just wait until the next snow day and see how it goes!

Thanks for playing along!

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