Catherine Destivelle- Profile by Beth Wald Climbing 1988

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Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 26, 2010 - 02:06pm PT

This one is for Jeff, the Dreamer who has become the Dream...From Climbing October 1988. Dream on...

hooblie

climber

from where the anecdotes roam

Sep 26, 2010 - 02:23pm PT

in response to a thread asking "the best thing i ever heard from a leader while belaying was ..."
i sketched out the following vignette:

i was thrilled to watch the world comps or cup or whatever at snowbird and after the main event a less formal speed climbing race broke out on the side wall.

the crowd was not held back and contestants sort of just stepped up as the rope became available. catherine destivelle tied in and no one was paying attention to the other end of the rope so i just stepped up.

she didn't say a thing but everything your sposed to say was contained in a brief penetrating fixing of the eyes.

she swarmed it like a leopard and hauling in the slack took my share of adrenalin to boot. when i took her weight and zipped her adroitly to the ground it crossed my mind that i would never be anonymous again if i dropped her.
it was a lose or not situation for me, or so i thought.

as history will attest she lives! boy and how. her eyes alone
spoke of sweet domination and vivacious joy ...
more than i could have imagined.

if she had uttered anything in her native tongue,
well it was she who might have dropped me

ydpl8s

Trad climber

Santa Monica, California

Sep 26, 2010 - 02:32pm PT

Ahhhhh! how many times did I dream of her?

SteveW

Trad climber

The state of confusion

Sep 26, 2010 - 03:59pm PT

Steve, now we kneed an article about Beth Wald by Catherine!!!!

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 26, 2010 - 07:45pm PT

There is a Beth Wald profile out there...

Oxymoron

Big Wall climber

total Disarray

Sep 26, 2010 - 11:58pm PT

Catherine rocks. Always.
Though I'm intruiged. That would be a worthy endeavour.
Insight? Maybe. Interesting? Certainly.

Watusi

Social climber

Newport, OR

Sep 27, 2010 - 12:54am PT

Thanx Steve!! :) I got to meet Catherine while she was in Josh, and she's a really nice person as well!!!

Rudder

Trad climber

Long Beach, CA

Sep 27, 2010 - 01:04am PT

<<<< was/is a huge fan. :)

Jello

Social climber

No Ut

Sep 27, 2010 - 01:10am PT

Catherine is the best I've ever known at taking a climbing dream, and in a few deceptively simple steps turning it into her personal reality. Of course she'sphysically strong but her greatest asset is her desire to complete her dreams. She's a mother now, and a very good one. At 50 she's not going to be doing the earth-shaking climbs she once did. However, she's moved on to other spheres, like books and films, which she pursues with equal passion. She currently working on a feature film, with major backing, that is a work of fiction based on her own experience. She tells me it will be a love story.

Catherine is not simply one in a million - she's absolutely unique.

Thanks for posting this up, Steve!

-JelloStillLovesCatherine

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 27, 2010 - 10:36am PT

My dream is our dream...to hear the ten thousand tales of soaring desire!

A little taste from the Frost book in progress...

"Here the summit of the Fou floated in the clouds and the towering cumulus all around reminded me of many similar moments while flying. However, here one could actually feel the elements and be part of them. These sculptured forms, ever-changing like life itself, made mockery of our Fou. The south face of the Fou, perhaps the hardest climb in the western Alps, yet it could not compare to a soaring cliff of vapor with cracks and chimneys of translucent crystals never to feel a human hand." John Harlin 1963.

I bet she came to prefer Jello over cheesecake...just not at Snowbird!

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 28, 2010 - 09:31pm PT

Nordwand Bump!

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2010 - 11:16pm PT

Snowbird Bump!

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Oct 14, 2010 - 11:22pm PT

Ah....Snowbird, the end of the game before it began.

pocoloco1

Social climber

The Chihuahua Desert

Oct 15, 2010 - 01:13am PT

French Bump

hooblie

climber

from where the anecdotes roam

Oct 15, 2010 - 01:16am PT

if i get your meaning jim, that made them like mint proofs without the production run.

i was absolutely delirious when edlinger pulled through the spot that shed so many others.
part of the joy was for the course setter(s?) who were suddenly redeemed. till then,
what we had witnessed was a slap-off from the same high holds.

nothing in my whole climbing career made me want to scream, shout and hug raw strangers like that moment. it's what comes to mind when i hear the expression "don't know what to do with myself."

and then the beauty with which the rest of the route was executed was
a measured application of sure glory, tempered by a shade of portent.

this exception disproved the rule; it can be a spectator sport. thankyou jello, thankyou!

patrick went and sat indian style on the ground and i had no doubt that his edge had
something to do with properly managing the body electric. it seemed a deliberate follow through
to get himself grounded, while the antics around him played out as they may.

my pride was running over for the home team when mari ruled the qualifier. we who knew her knew how good she was, but to be there to learn that on that day there were none better, while she just inhabited her beauty like an unassuming deer, i wouldn't trade those memories for woodstock