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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 11, 2010 - 09:03pm PT
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These were preludes to modern climbing gyms. Here's a photo of Spire Rock in Washington state, built in 1976. Others, anyone . . .?
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Oct 11, 2010 - 09:21pm PT
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hey anders-- did you get involved in the restoration of monitor? i only just learned about it this past week
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/124305_rock30.html
never climbed there myself. one trip to the uw wall was enough for me.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Oct 11, 2010 - 09:36pm PT
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Trinity College, Cambridge
1930's
Online book with great photos here.
http://www.insectnation.org/projects/nightclimbers/html/c132.html#AEN147
The copyright is somewhat dubious so I'll leave it to you to go and find the pics.
But long before that:
the great alpinist, Geoffrey Winthrop Young, while a student there in the 1890s, engaged in "roof climbing" and wrote and published a buildering guide to one of the colleges, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buildering
Climbing the walls and colonnade at Stanford Library and old Art Museum were de rigeur for Palo Alto area climbers by 1970. I'll bet people on this list have some pics of builderers in action.
I was climbing at Vertical World gym in Seattle when I was there on business trips in 1985. It was nearly new then. (thread drift, not an outdoors area) I think it was the first "modern" climbing gym.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Oct 11, 2010 - 09:43pm PT
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Great Minds think alike
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 11, 2010 - 10:12pm PT
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I remember getting a thorough and appropriate to Eldorado pump at the Mackey Pit on the CU campus back in the early 70's. That scene was better than most intentionally built walls for quite a while. The high ball problems up to the overhead steel walkways were really quite memorable!
Jim Phillips was involved in designing and building Spire Rock if I am not mistaken. He posts on the ST frequently.
We have several in the PNW despite the nasty weather. Commercial gyms got their start here too! I designed and built several splendid indoor gyms around the country. The bouldering height walls are crucial to a successful and engaging gym design.
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tomtom
Social climber
Seattle, Wa
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Oct 11, 2010 - 10:14pm PT
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I believe people have been climbing outdoor structures called "cliffs" or "mountains" for years.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Oct 11, 2010 - 10:15pm PT
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There was a purpose-built outdoor wall at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, BC) as early as the late 1970s. Not sure of the exact date it was built.
Someone here must know.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 11, 2010 - 10:22pm PT
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The SFU wall was climbable at least by early 1974 - I remember going there with Carl Austrom. The UBC wall (never finished) was climbable in 1973, anyway.
(I've never been to Monitor Rock in Seattle, that I know of.)
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Oct 11, 2010 - 11:18pm PT
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The outdoor structure at the University of Washington is really nice. It was there in 1981 for sure! I'll see if I can dig out some photos. Great cracks -- a little shallow so pretty demanding on technique. The tallest section is maybe 30' so you have to think a bit before committing to the moves to the top. It was a fun place with a regular crowd. Timson, Krakauer, Greg Child, Greg Olsen, Jon Nelson (a really talented climber), Max Dufford and others I'm not remembering now were regulars.
EDIT: Found a couple shots on line:
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 12, 2010 - 01:43am PT
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I had fun climbing at Monitor Rock with my dad - learned how to hip belay and rappel (dulfersitz) there. Then I rode my bike to boulder there several times in the summer of 1974. Did my first 5.9 there, on the tower - had to use chalk to be able to stick to the slick holds on that one.
There is/was also a backside area of slabs that are simulated snow slopes with cut steps. We would climb those with no feet (series of mantles).
I checked out Spire Rock just before it officially opened. It was clearly patterned after Monitor Rock. One innovation at Spire Rock was that the chockstone in the chimney was mounted on an axle, so it would roll if you tried to grab it. (The lesson was supposed to be "don't touch chockstones").
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ec
climber
ca
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Oct 12, 2010 - 12:33pm PT
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the earliest structures were ALL of the exposed stone on Earth...
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 12, 2010 - 03:21pm PT
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This one is from my website and dates prior to 1860, I think.
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ec
climber
ca
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Oct 12, 2010 - 03:33pm PT
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that's cool!
is that one soldier in a thin diagonal crack or yarding a rope? LOL
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 12, 2010 - 07:27pm PT
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is that one soldier in a thin diagonal crack or yarding a rope?
A vertical rope probably. Maybe klk could identify the European military here. I'm guessing Prussian or French.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 14, 2010 - 09:06pm PT
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How old do you think the pegboard is, as an apparatus?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 14, 2010 - 10:53pm PT
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Snowbird?!?
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!