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nick farley
climber
bishop
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 11, 2009 - 02:28pm PT
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Some of you might find this interesting. Here in the Gunks today an ABC news crew is getting footage of a local "climber" doing some free soloing for the use in a piece about rock climbing, free soloing, and probably tying it in with death of John Bachar. Yesterday, ABC news called my guide service for help and to provide a climber, I declined. The same ABC guy called all over the local community here in the Gunks asking a lot of questions, looking for some monkey to free solo for the benefit of ABC news.
Everyone I spoke with yesterday had likewise declined their involvment out of respect for the memory of John, John's family and friends, the pursuit of free solo climbing, and just the general public perseption of climbing.
Well, the manager of the Gunks local EMS guide service did actually take the ABC news crew out this morning. The Mohonk Preserve would not give permission to ABC news to do the shoot on their property. They are reported to have gone to Minnewaska State park. The manager of the EMS guide service is expected to free solo for the shoot.
Everyone that I have spoken with is very dissappointed with his decision.
If you happen to catch the ABC evening news tonight I believe it is supposed to air. Please know the majority of our climbing community wanted NO part of participating with ABC news on this story. I doubt it will be geared towards honoring this hero to so many of us.
Nick
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 11, 2009 - 02:32pm PT
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Thanks, Nick. The most recent posts to the "John Bachar - In Memory of a Great Man" discuss this, in terms of when the program will be on. It appears that whatever they run will be on ABC affiliates in their late afternoon news today, perhaps 5:30 - 6:00 local time. Let's hope that it will be informed, respectful and dignified, and that the news media hasn't been harassing John's family and friends. I'm not very hopeful, but we'll see.
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Arid-zona
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Jul 11, 2009 - 02:46pm PT
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I look forward to a whole new generation of Americans with the concept of "free climbing" as climbing without ropes.
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dustonian
climber
Foresta
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Jul 11, 2009 - 02:58pm PT
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Ha ha, EMS has gotta be one of the lamest "guide services" in the country!!
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apogee
climber
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Jul 11, 2009 - 03:02pm PT
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Corporate based 'guide services' (i.e. EMS, REI) = usually well intended but woefully sub-professional.
Not sure if I want to watch that piece or not- it is sure to make you wince (or worse).
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
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Jul 11, 2009 - 03:03pm PT
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Let's hope for the best.
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Roughster
Sport climber
Vacaville, CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 03:25pm PT
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I have said it previously, free soloing and the eventual result of it NEVER bodes well for climbing access. I am not saying death either, the sensationalization of it either in success or failure portrays climbing as a much more high risk activity as a whole than it really is.
You think every land manager who watches the upcoming piece is not going to be concerned...
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Porkchop_express
Trad climber
the base of the Shawangunk Ridge
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Jul 11, 2009 - 03:32pm PT
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I have no idea what the story will turn out to be, or what ALL the various "commercial" guide services are like, but knowing several of the Gunks EMS guide service personally, I can attest to their skill and professionalism. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Or do. Just saying.
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sully
Trad climber
CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 04:52pm PT
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If Tom Brokaw is behind the story, it might not be so bad. He narrated and his daughter produced Verticle Frontier: Rock Climbing in Yosemite (2002). Brokaw has mountaineered with Chouinard.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 11, 2009 - 04:57pm PT
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"I have said it previously, free soloing and the eventual result of it NEVER bodes well for climbing access."
We should discuss this another time. For now, I'll only observe that as climbers, we ALL free solo at times, and we ALL take risks. And as humans, we ALL take risks. Some are quite open-eyed and rational about assessing risk, some not.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Jul 11, 2009 - 05:50pm PT
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It's a dilemma: Participate and risk having your involvement edited down into something horrendously stupid and possibly counter-productive; or stay away and let someone else try to shape the story to their own ends.
Not an easy decision.
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 05:52pm PT
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Mighty Hiker,
you missed the point :-) Sport climbing is basically a riskless endeavour unless you or your belayer screw up and that is more negligence than risk.
One of my buddies who did some very hard FA's of some routes in Tuolumne said it best. "Manage risk? Tolerate risk? When I did hard routes, I embraced risk!"
John Bachar lived an incredible life and one reason for that is that he embraced risk.
Bruce
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 06:00pm PT
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I'm with KLK, if you know what you are talking about, be forceful and upfront with the reporter and producer especially. They don't have a lot of time so the simpler you can put something the better.
This piece sounds doomed. You want to talk free soloing? Talk to this new kid Honnold, talk to Croft, talk to Potter...who are these guys talking to? If they want to talk about Bachar? If this is an end run to talk about Bachar, it sounds like they are barking up the way wrong tree.
I don't apologize for my profession. Journalist are just as likely to be wrong than right.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 11, 2009 - 06:05pm PT
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"Sport climbing is basically a riskless endeavour unless you or your belayer screw up and that is more negligence than risk."
Lower risk, yes. Riskless, no.
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 06:37pm PT
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chances are, they will get wrong.
what's their thesus? free soloing is dangerous? really? should we go live with this?
i sure hope they don't write bachar into this mess.
what's the moral? people shouldn't free solo? that's fine advice for most of humanity.
there is no moral to bachar's passing. the equation had changed due to an accident and he hadn't re calculated yet. there is no way for anyone to understand that except a tiny few.
lord i hope they don't tie this story to bachar, but you know they will.
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Maysho
climber
Truckee, CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 06:53pm PT
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I was hoping they would have and rerun some archival footage. Weren't some of those old shows run by ABC, like "Thats incredible" or David Letterman? There has got to be some cool old soloing footage in the vaults somewhere. Otherwise, its the media, no use getting your panties in a bunch, we are used to climbing being depicted strangely, maybe/hopefully someone soulful will get some air time, talking about what John meant to the sport.
Peter
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 11, 2009 - 06:58pm PT
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Peter, there is some archival footage of John climbing posted on YouTube - look under "John Bachar". Posted by Ed Hartouni. I put some links in the main Bachar thread.
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crankenstein
Trad climber
Louisville, CO
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Jul 11, 2009 - 07:11pm PT
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Just saw the piece on the news and I must say that I thought it to be very unbiased and no judgment was passed on the sport or the man. It would have had more credibility with me as a climber if some well known climber had been involved instead of an unknown (to me) "climbing instructor" but it was tastefully done none-the-less.
RIP John
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 07:50pm PT
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a more interesting topic would be calculated risk in many sports, with free soloing just a small part.
what other sports lay it all on line like soloing, runouts, high altitude mountaineering?
I get bugged by all the judging, who gets after dale earnhardt for dying in car wreck. they practically made him saint. Are there parallels?
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 07:59pm PT
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That was a confusing post, skip the Dale Earnhardt parts, but hwat other sports lay it all on the line for recreation? That's the better story, how do you calculate the risk. I bet soldiers do it all the time, but they have to. The parallel is sport.
I had my boy on my lap, so it was one handed typing.
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