My place or yours?

Warning: This is not an unbiased, equal opportunity blog post....I have suspected tonsilitis, have been sofa bound all day with fever and inability to consume anything other than cups of tea and am subsequently grumpy. Sue me.

There is a thread at the moment on UKClimbing.com which seems to point towards at least some thought being given to adding an 'available and looking' quality to ones user profile. Essentially there will be a little symbol or even a subtle phrase which means you will be flagged as 'wanting a partner to climb with' or 'wanting someone to sleep with'. This will possibly be private (but we'll know) and only visible to those who subscribe (for a small fee). UKC would not be the first action-specific site to to this as it already exists here on CamptoCamp.org.

The thread here was started by a regular user but the UKC management contributing to the thread writes that  this idea has already been given some serious thought. Why? There are a host of matchmaking sites out there that are tried and tested and built specifically for hooking people up. You can already specify what, who, how to the nth degree, right down to WLTM non-smoking cyclist who exceeds 3500km per year and has an orange jacket with red cuffs and speaks fluent Swahili. Sure, you're going to get interest from those who claim they can and do and don't but then, what guarantees 'climbers' any going to be any more honest?

Those for the idea argue that you'd be selecting your future mate from a genepool which has a higher percentage of outdoorsy types in it thus making it less likely that you'll end up with someone who thinks lifting a can of lager is aerobic exercise. Well probably yes, even though that group is likely to be quite small given the UK is not exactly known for its sporting population, but anyone can put up a profile saying they climb E3 and talk a good talk - and they do. Perversely, the people that one wishes to attract or choose are more likely to be out climbing and not posting*. They're (the desired sub-section of available partners) also likely to be well rounded types who don't want to spend all the time talking about climbing and have other interests such as cycling or swimming or croquet.

*This is not to say that everyone who posts is a lager drinking couch potato as a vast number post on UKC during work hours/illness/nothing on telly when sheer boredom drives them to argue the toss between wether *insert route* is E3 or 4 or, in the case of The Pub and Off Belay, two non-climbing type sections within UKC forums (which is a whole other gripe) whether garibaldis are better than custard creams. I, admittedly,  am one of those.

Perhaps it is genuinely the GOW (Grumpy Old Woman) syndrome finally kicking in as I hurtle uncerimoniously towards the big 40, a naieve hankering for yesteryear or even the fear that as we, as a race, seem to be heading towards a world filled with hypermarkets from which you can buy everything from soap through to the newest 67" colour telly, this seems to be another case of a perfectly good niche outlet being turned into yet another One Stop Shop  - but turning one of the worlds most successful climbing sites into [even partly] a dating site makes me a little sad.