Jeff Smith Valley climber

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Messages 1 - 9 of total 9 in this topic
Robb

Social climber
It's like FoCo in NoCo Daddy-O!
Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 31, 2009 - 09:00pm PT
Does anyone here remember Jeff Smith from the valley, maybe late 70's-early 80's?
Robb

Social climber
It's like FoCo in NoCo Daddy-O!
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 2, 2009 - 01:50am PT
Bump....
Longish blonde hair, wasted, well used,patched chouinard haul bag.
Well?...

Todd Eastman

climber
Bellingham, WA
Apr 2, 2009 - 02:16am PT
How about Geoff Smith of Pokomoonshine and Valley fame? Balding, caustic wit, and a maniacal laugh describes this Adirondack legend.
Jaybro

Social climber
wuz real!
Apr 2, 2009 - 02:18am PT
Climbed El Cap with Barbella, maybe joined the military a few years later?

What did happen to that guy?
Robb

Social climber
It's like FoCo in NoCo Daddy-O!
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 2, 2009 - 08:40pm PT
Jaybro
Not to besmirch Jeff, but if I remember correctly the rumor was that he was a deserter from the navy.
Jaybro

Social climber
wuz real!
Apr 2, 2009 - 09:46pm PT
no besmirching, i remember a pretty colorful guy...
Robb

Social climber
It's like FoCo in NoCo Daddy-O!
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 2, 2009 - 10:28pm PT
Colorful indeed.
Funny story. Me, Repptile, & Jeff are into our 2cd or 3rd day on zodiac & the first good storm of the fall comes in. We biv & Jeff's freezing. I gave him my bocu deluxe Norwegian fishermans wool sweater aka, the bomb.
"Jeff, you ok?"
"Yea, thanks"
"Cool, see ya in the am"
Next morning after a quick java Jeff hands back my sweater & takes off on lead. I tie it off & Repptile & I finish a last cup.After about a minute, He & I look at eachother at the same time & say what the heck is that smell?
Unbeknownst to me, rather than wearing it Jeff had wrapped his feet in it. Never got the smell out-tossed it a month later.
Robb

Social climber
It's like FoCo in NoCo Daddy-O!
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 4, 2009 - 11:33am PT
Blizzard bump!
soaring_bird

Trad climber
Cheyenne, WY
Apr 4, 2009 - 05:33pm PT
Jeff led me up my very first route in the Valley in '78, Moby Dick Center. A couple years later, I remember watching him fix on Mescalito. He seemed completely "zombied out" the day after they topped out, like he had been to Mars or something. He could not describe the climb in meaningful words, and that was the last time I saw him. He became an "inspirational curiosity" to me, though I finally understood his mindset a year or so after that day.
I remember another bizarre story about a solo backcountry ski trip he took into the high country in early spring. Just before the trip, he located an old antifreeze jug, rinsed it out "pretty good" (or so he thought), and filled it with drinking water. Off he went on his ski trip. At some point, he was poisoned by the residual antifreeze and he wound up laying down in the snow, hallucinating, and then passing out. He wasn't sure how long he was out, but it was the middle of the night when he woke up shivering uncontrollably. He managed to ski out and luckily survived. Does anyone else ever remember this trip, Jeff's closest call with death?
Messages 1 - 9 of total 9 in this topic
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