Climbing (including mountaineering) continues to evoke images of courage, bravery, intrepedation and heroism, brought about largely by the nature of the activity being one of considerable danger and risk. The activity requires of its athletes the taking of chances, the trusting in their skills, and the relying upon intuition, experience, and knowledge. Whilst acknowledging that technology can have many beneficial consequences for climbing, its use requires an athlete to make a conscious decision about what kind of experience is sought after when embarking upon the activity. If the climber wishes to pursue an activity that is represented by the more traditional forms of climbing, where the athlete is highly dependent upon his/her skills to negotiate the dangers of a climb, then it might be argued that the use of technological innnovations are not appropriate. Alternatively, if the climber is unconcerned about these traditional (perhaps, primitive) characteristics of climbing, then technological innovation would seem entirely compatible with such ambitions. These alternatives are described since it is considered that the sophistication of technology within climbing has the effect of changing the nature of the activity to one of mere exercise. Whilst recognising that technology can enable experiences that would otherwise be inaccessible to the unenhanced climber, technology can also make climbing safer or more comfortable - characterstics that would seem contrary to the riskful concepts of traditional climbing. Consequently, a climber must be clear about the implications of a specific technology before making use of it. In choosing the fate of climbing, it is the climber's responsibility to realise in what ways these technologies change their experience, else the traditional, riskful status of climbing will come to represent the less risky, more athletic forms of climbing and thus, conflate the values of the many versions of climbing.