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Gramicci
Social climber
Ventura
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Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 6, 2006 - 01:58am PT
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The original Stonemaster Stories thread by John (Largo) Long started here:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=145850&f=0&b=0 (208)
JL: Anyone out there with old (before, say, 1975) Stonemaster stories, I'd love to hear them as I'm slowly trying to put something together. Hearing other perspectives might help trigger some long lost memories. The Stonemasters were always as much a frame of mind as anything else, but what folks remember--especially in terms of anecdotes, or what they thought the Stonemasters actually were, or stood for--might help give some little shape to what feels like a very amorphous subject.
Pat had posted these great shots of Largo so I will make sure he sees them. A few weeks back we were commenting on what a great place on El Cap that was.
The Man
The Mission
Ho Man, the Dude
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Gramicci
Social climber
Ventura
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 6, 2006 - 01:58am PT
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I thought I would share one of my favorite shots of Tobin Sorenson.
John Long had just done the first free ascent of Piasano overhang and we were all inching to give it a go. We had done a little research on the gloves and found the boxing variety was just a myth waiting to happen. A regular pair of leather work gloves with the fingers cut out gave the extra protection you needed when you had to throw your feet around putting all that weight on those rattler fist jams. The extra girth did help though and here Tobin added a few extra wraps of tape for good measure. Most of your effort was spent just trying to protect it and Tobin with his tenacious attitude got the furthest and almost pulled it off that day. It was a good day and a fond memory.
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mastadon
Trad climber
Seattle
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That's a great shot Mike-he was quite a character. You've gotta wonder what he'd be doing if he were still around....
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de eee
Mountain climber
Tustin
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Those gloves that JL used were slanderously referred to as "the bull whackers gloves." They (the gloves) lurked along the trail somewhere (or was it Humber?) for a while after the famous ascent.
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Gramicci
Social climber
Ventura
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 6, 2006 - 11:24am PT
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Don, my guess is the Middle East would be a different place. He was quite crafty in his bible smuggling.
As far as climbing he continuously surprised us day to day but I’m pretty sure the Himalayas where on the list. He had told me after his trip to Peru and every thing he soloed down there he was surprised how comfortable he was with high altitude.
Dave, funny about the gloves never heard that. He should have hung them on a hook up at the overhang the next to the spurs.
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guyman
Trad climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Nice shot..Gawd we were all so young - back in the day.
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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In Part 8, we were discussing the poaching and chopping of routes...
And, while I agree with Randy that some of that was a long time ago and "water over the dam", it still rankles some. Obviously. When you're young and full of vinegar, that territorial imperative is pretty stong, I guess. (...gives a whole new meaning to "marking your territory".)
And speaking of "marking"... While not quite the same thing (well, same but different), I can still remember how PISSED we were, the first time we saw the damage done to the boulders at Mt. Rubidoux. Not by chopping, but by the clean-up crews that went up there to remove the graffitti before the usual Easter Sunrise gigs on the hill. Now, in prior years, the City had cleaned up by sand-blasting--leaving fine white dust over all the the good problems that had seen some tagging that year. That wasn't too horrible. Many key dimes were violated, but that wasn't the worst...
The year that really pissed us off was when they got tired of sand-blasting and just painted over everything! The lazy bastards! Even worse, they mixed sand into the paint to try and blend the color with the rock. Damn. The cure was even worse than the disease. And I believe that the paint-overs weren't done by City Hall, but lazy volunteers who had not a clue. Does anyone remember what year that travesty started?
Here's a pic from Teflon before it got even worse:
And you should see it now! (BTW, anyone know the man and boy in the background? I don't, but that's a pretty stout problem to start the kid on.)
This is really petty compared to what the Stoney lads have to endure, but I just HATE that paint! And that piss-poor practice continues to this day. I swear though... After this Easter is over, I'm taking some paint remover and water up the hill and cleaning some of the more useful holds just to restore some of the old problems to a bit of their former glory.
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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After weeks of lurking and alot of entertainment, finally something I can comment on without sounding like a complete youngster (odd that nearly 20 years of climbing experience makes me a youngster in this crowd).
Anyway, as far as the paint at Rubidoux goes, it seems to me that at least some of it was already there in 90-91 when you and I were climbing there Robs. So it goes back into the 80s sometime.
One story I'd like to hear in more detail is the slab at Rubidoux (Flabob?) that kp did prior to a comp, and that no one could repeat, despite him putting tick marks on key holds. True?
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de eee
Mountain climber
Tustin
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This was before it went free and the should-be-famous Todd Skinner episode took place.
Picture taken by Craig "Guns" Fry.
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TC
Social climber
No matter where you go, there you are.
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Robs,
Upthread on Teflon that's Joe Sheehy and his son, Collin. Joe is retiring from teaching this year and Collin is a fireman in Lucerne Valley. The globe is spinning too fast!
-Tony
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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is "teflon" the same thing as "in the picture"? i recognize the problem in that picture, i think -- couple dimes moves to a super-thin tips crack, then stright up over a tiny overlap on huge, sweet patina buckets? sorta OTD, but not too bad? did it last winter, the paint's a drag but the problem is still fantastic...
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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No, Bob. In the Picture is just a cute little variant of Overexposed, both of which are right of Teflon. However, Teflon and Overexposed are both parts of a well-balanced diet at the Lower Lot. Those two help keep ya regular.
Hi, Pranke! Glad to see you venture out of lurkdom. Still a youngster, though... I remember the painting started in the mid '70s. At least 15 years before the timeframe you recollect.
And we'd best hear it from the horse's mouth, though, re. Flabob. (Actually, I think KP would pronounce it "fLAY-bob".) On the Superstar slab. 'Twas only worth 19 points in the '84 contest. Same as Coathanger; same as Pink Bug; same as The Ex. And Bullethead got 20 points--the hardest prob. in the contest. (Now, looking back on the bouldering map for that contest, I'm thinking that Vogel's got a lot to answer for.)
Come on, de eee. Out with the story on the B&W above! Who, what, when and how. (You can skip the why part, since there'd be no acceptable answer.) Every picture deserves a story.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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(Now, looking back on the bouldering map for that contest, I'm thinking that Vogel's got a lot to answer for.)
Let's take him out back and... Oh never mind.
Actually, I can't take credit for that bit of sandbagging (as much I just love to sandbag)--- Blame KP and Henny for the ratings, I just drew the maps, etc.
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Just an accomplice, eh? Still culpable.
I don't think I ever knew that those two had a hand in that. (And they were always blaming you! ;-p) So who's really to blame for all the naming? I contend that more than 30 percent of the problems listing in that contest had names that nobody had seen before that day!
And then there was that problem down near the Wall of Glass, that day. Bunches of lads were rallied around some steep slabby thing that was worth, like, 17 points. Few wanted to risk a fail on their card, but it was a tantalizing, big-points plum. Since I wasn't competing, it seemed only fair to point out that it could also be done by just stepping back about 20' and having a running go at it. Within about 10 minutes, a dozen guys had snagged the easiest seventeen points on the hill. (The Devil made me do it.)
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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rmuir, it is still possible to climb teflon, with all that paint? anyone done it lately? i might loop by there late next week, heading from san diego up to josh for the ritual trashing of dimes' crib....
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Dimes
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Flabob-named after the airport at the base of the west side of the mountain where we would occasionaly wander over too after a bouldering session for a chocolate shake and a side of fries at the grill. Very rustic and well, sorta weird. In the middle of the 84 contest there was a guy who went over the edge and was threatening physical harm over the ratings. Seems emotions were running a bit on edge over some of the names also. It's a wonder I made through the day unscathed. So, Flabob was originally rated 11d. Can't remeber if Henny or I did it first. A great problem for those of us who love that nebulous small hold climbing and one not often repeated.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Guilty.
If my failing memory serves me right (wouldn't bet on it), it might have gone something like this:
KP: Buddy, check this rig out; totally henous.
DH: What's this smack? Those edges are huge, you could bivy off them.
RV: So...How hard do you reckon boys? [Making a futile effort of cranking the first move -- feels like B1]
KP: Wadda say Henny, 10c?
DH: Say what? 10c! Dude, 5.9 on the outside.
RV: OK, how many points?
DH: 8 maybe, and that's being generous.
KP: Are you crazy, 8 points! How about 7.
RV: Err, I thought that 8s were supposed to be easy. Nobody will be able to even do that thing. Get real.
KP: 10
DH: 10
RV: 10? [Secretly marks it down as 14].
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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KP said: A great problem for those of us who love that nebulous small hold climbing
Yep. Ranks right up there with its neighbor, Coathanger. And, take a number. There're long lines on both of those.
Vogel, LLP, said: [Secretly marks it down as 14]
See kids... That's how you get started in a life of crime! (Knowing the notoriety of those two arch criminals, he should have at least given it an "18"!) Let this be a lesson to you all.
If you can't do the dimes, don't do the line.
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henny
Social climber
The Past
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Hohoho man!!! Is the BS getting thick here or what? I'm obviously going to need to set the Rubidoux facts straight here in a minute. But first...
The picture of DE is on the South Face of Suicide. Knockin' on Heaven's Door to be exact. That pitch was first led free by KP when we did it in 79. But we didn't do the last pitch, which is shared by Hades. KP and I did the first pitch of Hades the next year. At that time we named it "Touching the Earth" but Largo renamed the complete route "Hades" when he freed the second pitch, which was fine by us. There was a good post about Hades by John a few threads back. The Skinner story concerned Hades and wasn't really about the pitch that DE is on in the picture. Knockin' was a great time. Lots of good stories came out of that one.
Yes, Teflon can still be done in spite of the paint. In fact, all of the problems in the area can still be done. They routinely are by a lot of people. They're just harder.
bvb? Were you actually planning on sneaking into our house without telling us that you were coming? What's with that, dude? Tell me when you'll be there and I'll make sure Muir and Powell are there as a welcoming committee. We got some problems for you babe. You better bring a lot of bags, cause we got a lot of sand...
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Dunes full.
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