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Salamanizer
Trad climber
The land of Fruits & Nuts!
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 3, 2013 - 01:48am PT
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I never met the man myself, likewise I never even heard of him until years after he had passed. But I have yet to talk to a climber from the 70's and 80's who hasn't brought up his name with admiration for his accomplishments.
I know he was a member of the first NIAD and a well respected and revered climbing ranger in Rocky Mountain NP who personally saved many climbers asses. But beyond that, I know very little about the man.
So tell me your stories. What are your memories of Billy Westbay?
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
The land of Fruits & Nuts!
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 3, 2013 - 09:18pm PT
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What, no love for Westbay???
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whitemeat
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo, CA
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give him props for the first one day ascent and one of the most heroic pics of all time!!!
dont know much about him other then this...
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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Rock-climbing legend Westbay, a quiet hero, dies
Denver Post Mountain Bureau
Aug. 5, 2000 - Billy Westbay didn't die while rock climbing, simply because no climb could beat him.
Instead, it was cancer that last week claimed the life of the indomitable 47-year-old, one of the unsung giants of big-wall climbing during its heyday of the 1970s and a quietly heroic figure in scores of Colorado mountain rescues.
"His was not a public name, even among climbers. But he was one of the best all-around rock climbers in the world. There's no question about that, based on what he did," said John Long.
Long teamed with Westbay and Jim Bridwell for the first single-day climb of one of the most difficult routes on Yosemite National Park's El Capitan, a landmark ascent that still is considered remarkable.
Already a climbing legend when he signed on as the climbing ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park in the early 1980s, Westbay then forged an impressive record as a rescuer, culminating in a daring ice climb to save passengers of a hot-air balloon that crashed near Copper Mountain two years ago.
"Billy was on a different level than the other rescuers here," said Jim Detterline, a climbing ranger at the park who learned the trade under Westbay.
"He was truly inspirational."
And in 15 seasons on the Copper Mountain Ski Patrol, Westbay earned a reputation as confident and competent in medical rescue, avalanche-control work and technical skills such as lift evacuation.
"To say that he was extraordinary doesn't even really capture the essence of the spirit that he brought to the way in which he lived his life," said ski patrol director Chuck Tolton. "He was a consummate adventurer. He had a very keen mind and a natural sense of curiosity. He was a gifted athlete with extraordinary leadership skills."
Such praise is to be expected at a memorial service today atop Copper Mountain, although friends and family admit it would have been discounted by the unassuming Westbay, who died unexpectedly on July 29 after a 16-month battle with bladder cancer.
"He was not at all pretentious," said his younger brother, Jim. "You'd never know the kind of reputation he had. He'd go off and climb things that other climbers wouldn't even consider, not because they were difficult, but just because he enjoyed the view."
It was unquestionably world class in 1975, however, when the three members of "Team Machine" completed the first one-day climb of The Nose on El Capitan, 34 pitches of forearm-cramping, fingertip-blistering vertical granite that Long called the "Carnegie Hall" of climbing.
"El Capitan was the symbol of the impossible," Long said. "That climb shattered the idea of what somebody really could do."
Speed and efficiency were the keys, and, in addition to strength, endurance and desire, they were skills mastered by Westbay, who grew up in Colorado Springs and had started climbing as a teenager in the Garden of the Gods.
"He had the kind of rugged fitness that would allow him to, say, wake up in the morning, trudge up the west face of the Sentinel (another famous Yosemite rock wall), dust off the route in five hours and then hike back to the valley floor with enough sunlight left to get into trouble," Long wrote for Climbing magazine in December.
At Rocky Mountain National Park, Westbay was known for his composure when all hell was breaking loose, and once retrieved two stuck climbers on the Diamond of Long's Peak in the middle of a storm, by himself - a rescue that the Park Service didn't celebrate because of the extreme risk.
http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0805l.htm
"Billy just went and soloed up the east face of Long's and essentially guided them down off the peak," Detterline said. "He was a legend, and deservedly so."
Services will be at 9 a.m. today at Ski Patrol Headquarters at Copper Mountain Resort. There will be cremation.
Copyright 2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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I knew him well. Fresh faced youthful looking guy with longish dirty blond hair and an engaging gap toothed grin. Always friendly, always energized to lead life to the max.. Taken early, he still got a fuller measure than most.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Salami, there is a ton of comments about Billy on The Forum. J-Do says it well just above.
My favorite is Billy on The Pacific Ocean during the early days. Must be Bridwell's image.
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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What the Latios call El Gran Varon.
Missed but never forgotten.
JL
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WBraun
climber
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Must be Bridwell's image.
It was taken with Billy's camera.
Bridwell said we all should take a sh#t contest and see who's is the biggest in the bag.
Then we threw the sh!t bags off from the continental Shelf.
When we bailed because of the huge storm approaching Billy's brother came up to the base to meet us.
When I reached the ground Billy's brother had stepped on one of the sh!t bags and splattered it all over the back of his pants .......
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Werner doesn't know proving he's been in the United States too long and doesn't know sh#t...
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WBraun
climber
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Who won?
There has to remain some mystery in our world ......
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Crump
Social climber
Lakewood, CO
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Billy was one of my biggest heroes. Being a protégé of Daniel McClure it is a natural to have huge idol worship of Billy. He taught two Texans, Dave Head and I to ski back in the 70s, and was always the biggest smile on our Damn Texas Yahoo tours of Colorado.
I first met him when I was 14 in the Black... He feels like that favorite uncle who died too young and that you miss for the rest of your life.
Have to stop now because my tears are blurring my eyes...
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rick sumner
Trad climber
reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska
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Our paths crossed only once in 1974, but i never forgot his generosity of spirit or endless enthusiasm.
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Anguish
Mountain climber
Jackson Hole Wyo.
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Jan 25, 2015 - 12:02pm PT
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Jan 25, 2015 - 01:04pm PT
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And ironically later on, Billy torching an outhouse pit:
and a very early photo of Billy near the base of Henley Quits with Bridwell sitting the foreground:
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Jan 25, 2015 - 01:13pm PT
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Click on this to enlarge:
Mike Graham's post reads: Jim and Billy Westbay were real close. In Billy’s final days of cancer Jim spent most of his time comforting him in his hospital room. Jim felt so confined there he couldn’t fathom how Billy must of felt, the once-great outdoorsman that he was. Against medical advice Jim carried the frail remainder of his friend outside into the sun for one last time. They spent most of the day there soaking up the memories. Billy died a few days later.
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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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Jan 25, 2015 - 04:37pm PT
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Among his many incredible accomplishments; the First Free Ascent of D1 on the Diamond with John Bachar.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Jan 25, 2015 - 05:39pm PT
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Yeah, what was wrong with those guys not having a live feed online?!
I first met Billy at Longs 33 years ago. A good guy.
I climbed with his brother, Rick, at IC last fall.
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dauwhe
Trad climber
Greenfield, MA
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Jan 25, 2015 - 06:04pm PT
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He dragged me up the Petit Grepon when I was sixteen years old and he was working as a guide for Fantasy Ridge. He seemed like a god to me at the time. Thirty-six years later, I think my initial impression was correct.
Dave
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 26, 2015 - 10:43am PT
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Billy Westbay & Cito Kirkpatrick, chillin’ at the Black Canyon rim, 1987:
(photo nicely renovated by Peter Haan)
Camera high line rigging for a Tony the Tiger commercial, A Basin ski area, 1996/7.
Billy upper left … Tarbuster lower left … Paul Sibley far right:
Back in the 90's when Billy & Angela both still reflected sunlight together … hacking some sack in Yosemite Lodge lot w/Cito:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 26, 2015 - 10:58am PT
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I last saw Cito at Copper Mountain CO. in August of 2000 at Billy's Memorial. He recalled each of the things he and Billy and I had done together; Cito has a terrific memory and a strong sense of meaning about his time with Billy Westbay.
Last I heard Cito was still in Summit County doing carpentry & climbing.
At Westbay's Memorial, Angela was airlifted straight to the podium via helicopter by the ski patrol. The patrollers loved Billy too: he was a fixture there for many winters & lived in Silverthorne.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 26, 2015 - 11:58am PT
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The neatest thing about Billy was his can-do attitude and ever-present grin.
He knew how to get what he wanted out of life and he was generous in sharing those skills. There was a period in the 90s when I was seriously overworked. Billy liked to explore and espouse shaman stuff. His inclinations toward those traditions were less airy fairy and he cleaved to the practical. "Just visualize Roy, that your shoulders are rounded and that your whole exterior is smooth, so that when shite rains down ... it will slide off of you".
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 26, 2015 - 06:52pm PT
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Dark Territory
Dark Territory was a Steven Seagal action film produced in 1994. Michael Paul, Cito Kirkpatrick, Billy Westbay, a fellow climber whose name I've forgotten and I all worked for Paul Borne on the rigging crew in support of the production.
Aside from Seagal, one could argue the central character in the film was a passenger train! The whole production company had all of their gear stowed on the train 24/7. (Some of the film crew may have even lived on the train for a time). A lot of the footage was shot among the gravelly ramparts west of Boulder Colorado.
Paul Borne was a talented climber and went on to work quite a bit in Hollywood. He was our square jawed leader … In truth, at this stage Paul was in his youth as a commander of men and matériel. He acted brashly on the set. Each morning Borne would take the wheel of a big studio lot suburban, order all of us to pile in with all of our gear and he'd roar off to our next location, lurching up twisty canyon roads at breakneck speeds yelling "hang on men!"
Up in the rugged canyons and alongside the tracks we stuffed (and anchored) prefabricated platforms into the sides of decaying cliffs. Quelling their adrenaline with sips of bottled water and crouched on these "ledges", stunt men would commit leaps down onto the top of the rolling train. (Adventure schemes ŕ la Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid). We “Men” cleared 45° slopes of heavy boulders so Steven Seagal look-alikes could jump out of the moving train, smashing together onto the “comfortized” slope. They'd rocket downward in padded jackets, grappling each other in a tangled embrace, only to be stopped by nets we'd strung across the abyss.
One day Billy and I were setting anchors and stringing hand lines up the shoulder of Boulder Canyon's Castle Rock. Borne soon scrambled up to critique our work. Okay … my hand line wasn't taught. Mea culpa. Paul then turned to his left, wagged his finger at Billy's anchor and told Billy that he didn't know how to make "the best possible solid anchor”! He would teach us the way. I had the feeling Borne, in those bootstrapping early years of his rigging career, never knew who he was really talking to when confronting Bill Westbay.
Borne clutched his radio to his chest and rapped off. Billy and I were "on standby" during a film change, enjoying our hanging positions above Castle Rock's overhangs. We talked about our lives as pro-climbers in various capacities; guiding, search & rescue, rigging and so forth. He'd recently had a good stretch doing $500 days out in the sticks for the phone company in a rigging capacity. I'd guided plenty yet only had a couple of jobs like Dark Territory to my credit; Billy had more technical experience behind him. He looked out over the twisted pines and assured me that I "had the stuff". He could be avuncular and was a worthy team player who also knew when to be humble.
Westbay was not without guile! The next year he came up to me grinning widely and said: "I heard through the grapevine your buddy Paul had anchor failure (nobody died and no animals were harmed) ... on a film shoot out in the desert!"
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Jan 26, 2015 - 08:10pm PT
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When I look back forty-four years to find him, I see Billy….I am in front of one of the early “new guys”. They were gentle, smart, great climbers, witty, friendly to a fault and quite real and beautiful. We can’t change a thing of course, but when we have to leave our friends along the trail, the quandary of living worsens for awhile and longing and despair will be campfire partners.
ee cummings said, “Unless you love someone, nothing else seems to make any sense”. His observation here carries us to how fugitive each of our worlds is and hints at the debris of earlier ones we cherished.
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Jeff G
Trad climber
Fort Collins
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Jan 27, 2015 - 06:07pm PT
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I met Billy Westbay while he was helping to rescue me after a climbing accident. I took a huge ground fall at Lumpy Ridge and had two broken legs and needed a rescue. He was part of the team and had me cracking up the whole time I was being lowered down a terrible talus slope in a stretcher. He was amazing and had things running smooth and calm and he was just funny! His first question when he got to me was "did you have any friends?! (the camming devices) "I'll solo up there and get them for you if you did!" Friends had just come out on the market and were a hot item at the time. I did not have any friends, so I didn't get to watch him solo up the route. That's the only time I met him, but he was always a hero to me, even before the rescue.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 27, 2015 - 06:15pm PT
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Was Doug Snively with him on your rescue?
He and Snively were tight. There's a guy who could tell some Westbay stories.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 30, 2015 - 02:11pm PT
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Billy Westbay Climbing Timeline (partial)
1971 Ascent of Washington Column
1971 FA West Face Castleton Tower w/ Jimmy Dunn, Stewart Green
1971 Early ascent NA Wall, El Capitan, VI, 5.8, A5 w/Jimmy Dunn (spring)
1972 FA Arching Jam Crack, Pericle, Pikes Peak, III 5.10 w/Dan McClure
1972 FA Dunn-Westbay, The Diamond, V 5.8 A3 w/ Jimmy Dunn
1972 rides bicycle to Yosemite Valley w/Dan McClure & Mark Hesse, (Doug Snively drives w/ climbing gear)(autumn)
1973 FA Don't Think Twice, Pericle, Pikes Peak, III 5.10 w/Cito Kirkpatrick
1973 2nd ascent Butterballs, Nabisco Wall, 5.11C w/Dan McClure (autumn)
1974 FA Heavenly Journey, Lumpy Ridge, 5.10B X w/George Hurley
1974 FA Globs of Blobs, Lumpy Ridge, 5.8 w/Mike Covington
1974 FFA J-Crack, RMNP, 5.11 w/Michael Covington & Dan McClure
(~~) FA Mig's Arete, Black Canyon, III 5.10 w/ partner
(~~) FA Just Another Jam, Zion, 5.8 w/ Larry Derby
1975 FA Squeeze Play, Zion, 5.10A w/ Mike Weis, Larry Derby (March)
1975 FA Hung Like a Horse, Vedauwoo, 5.11B w/Dan McClure (July 14)
1975 FA (double overhang left of PO Pinnacle), Nautilus, Vedauwoo, 5.11 w/Dan McClure (July 14)
(~~) FA 2 climbs in Horsethief Park, Pikes Peak
1975 FA Sidetrack, Lumpy Ridge, 5.9 w/Michael Covington, Doug Snively
1975 FA The Hooker, Black Canyon, V 5.9 A3, w/Mike Covington
1975 FA NIAD, El Capitan w/John Long, Jim Bridwell
1975 FA PO Wall, El Capitan, VI 5.9 A5 w/Jim Bridwell, Jay Fiske, Fred East
1975 FA Easy Wind, Manure Pile Buttress, 5.9 w/Kevin Worrall
1975 2nd ascent Diagonal Direct, The Diamond, V 5.11+ w/Mike Covington
1975 FFA & 2nd ascent NW Face Chiefshead, RMNP, 5.10 w/Dan McClure
1975 FA Colorado Crack, Joshua Tree, 5.9 w/John Long, Hugh Burton (September)
1975 FA Lost Lid, Joshua Tree, A0 w/ John Long, Hugh Burton, Fred East (December)
1978 FA Ramses, Lumpy Ridge, 5.10C w/Doug Snively
1978 FA Close Encounters, Lumpy Ridge, 5.11A w/Doug Snively
1979 FFA D1, The Diamond, 5.11D w/ John Bachar
1981 FA Altar Boy, Cathedral Wall, RMNP 5.9 w/Doug Snively
1981 FA Latch Hand, Lumpy Ridge, 5.11C w/Scott Kimball
1983 FA Storm Peak Central Buttress, RMNP, 5.11 w/Doug Snively
1989 FA Shadows, Half Dome, VI 5.10 A5 w/ Jim Bridwell, Charlie Rowe, Cito Kirkpatric
*Please suggest any additions!
Cheers,
Roy
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 30, 2015 - 02:22pm PT
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Some climbers whom we haven't heard from who did a lot with Westbay:
Cito Kirkpatrick
Doug Snively
Jimmy Dunn
Dan McClure
Michael Covington
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Daniel McClure
Trad climber
Beulah,CO
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More information for the Westbay timeline
Billy did 6 fist ascents on Pericle Rock Pikes Peak. All the climbs were done in the early 70's without bolts or pitons and before cams. Still to this day the climbs are much like doing a first ascent. Two of Westbay routes on Pericle that will be on any crack climbers to do list.
-1972 FA Arching Jam Crack,Pericle(Pikes Peak)III 5.10 w/Dan McClure
-1973 FA Don't Think Twice,Pericle(Pikes Peak)III 5.10 w/Cito Kirkpatrick
-1974 FFA J-Crack,RMNP 5.11 w/Michael Covington,Dan McClure
-1975 July 14,Hung Like a Horse(Vedauwoo)5.11 w/Dan McClure
-1975 July 14,??name of climb(Nautilus Vedauwoo)5.11 w/Dan McClure
double overhang left of PO Pinnacle
-Billy did at least 2 FA climbs in Horsethief Park(Pikes Peak)
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Looking at that last picture, taken in 1971, in the Valley brings back fond memories.
I was in Camp 4 from April to July in 1971, and probably ran into Billy, but don't remember. Everyone had their own crowd they hung out with, and I assume the Colorado guys including Jimmy Dunn, Snively, Westbay, and others,
stuck close together. I don't remember meeting Jimmy Dunn either, in 1971, but I am a close friend now, and we talk often.
Jimmy Dunn was with Billy, at the end, when he passed in the hospital.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Dan the Man McClure!
"Billy was a young punk teenage kid on his first trip to Yosemite doing what was then considered the hardest big wall in the world" Wonderful & priceless photos: Washington Column shot is so, so good.
Thanks much. Good call on the Pericle stuff. (Please leave your posts as they are, even though I've edited the timeline)
FYI: I looked through Hubbel's South Platte guide & found nothing (surprising?)
"double overhang left of PO Pinnacle" = Friday the 13th perhaps?
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Happen to know which issue # Walleye?
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Katie_I
Mountain climber
Wyoming
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Thanks! Just saw this thread. The article was already live--someone posted it back in 2007--but it was buried in the depths of our archive, as a link within another article. Anyway, here's the link, since it's otherwise hard to find:
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP19/sidebar-D1-FFA
(Katie from Alpinist)
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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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Thanks so much for posting that link, Katie!
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Katie_I
Mountain climber
Wyoming
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Thanks for asking!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Feb 10, 2015 - 05:23am PT
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Much thanks to Walleye and Katie Ives!
Bachar, from the Alpinist article on the FFA of D1:
Still in my early twenties, with only a few seasons in Colorado, I had yet to gain experience on longer mountain routes. Making the first free ascent of the D7 had seemed quick and easy, so I didn't really count that. One afternoon I got up the nerve to ask Billy. He flashed that playful yet astute Westbay grin and said, "Sure, let's go for it." Secretly, I almost regretted speaking: I didn't know if I could hang with him on a climb of this stature.
Let's see, 1978. Bachar had freed Astroman with Long and Kauk in 1975. He was the shizzle by 1978. Yet, Bachar could be given to a sort of feigned humility when speaking of just a few other climbers. But he didn't dole it out lightly and always with a modicum of truth.
Bachar stated, more than once: “Kauk was the most bad assed climber there ever was" (competitive & comparative humility on Bachar’s part and also worth believing) ... and: “Kauk was the gun on Astroman" (truth).
Bachar was a few years younger than Westbay. So this regaling of Billy Westbay, although of a piece with subtle brinksmanship on John's part, is also definitely genuine and it says a lot about Billy's climbing artistry.
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Steve Hickman
climber
Norwood, CO
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Feb 18, 2015 - 11:09am PT
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I spent some fun times and serious times with Billy when I was the climbing and rescue ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park. Komito's was a favorite gathering spot. I seem to recall that he worked rigs in Wyoming during the winter -- he was one tough and remarkable human being. Steve Hickman
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Nick Danger
Ice climber
Arvada, CO
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Feb 18, 2015 - 12:41pm PT
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Billy was my friend and climbing partner in high school in Colorado Springs. We ran cross country together, learned climbing in the Garden of the Gods together, and experienced our first climbs in an alpine environment together in Pikes Peak's North Pit. We were just major buds who loved doing the same things, without a clue of what either one of us would become. I especially liked Billy's self-effacing humor about the time he got drunk, lost his house keys, and wandered around in the snow barefoot until they were frostbit. What a goofball. God how we enjoyed doing things together, especially those long runs together on cross country team practice.
Years later I met up with Billy on Broadway on Longs Peak when a late-season snowstorm forced so many of us off the Diamond, and there was Billy with his client, setting up rappels and generally bailing everyone's chestnuts out of the fire. That was SO Billy.
Years later still I met Billy on the slopes of Copper Mountain, where we made a date to climb some frozen waterfalls. By this time Billy was quite famous in climbing circles for his incredibly bold ascents. Neither his fame nor my obscurity meant a thing to us; we were just old friends getting together to stab a little ice. What really impressed me about Billy came later that evening jawboning at his house; he was so spiritually mature and self aware that it was just a huge delight to share time and space with him.
Billy was, and is, an utterly remarkable soul, and a great friend when we were both so young...
RIP Billy,
Your friend,
Robbie Dickerson
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Jim Pettigrew
Social climber
Crowley Lake, CA
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Feb 19, 2015 - 11:47am PT
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Billy always was the true friend and supported me through me periods of troubles! They called me from the hospital on his last day and with great sadness I was able to say farewell to our great friend! Even got a chuckle out of him at the end! Such a sad day!
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Old Dude
Trad climber
Bradenton, FL
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Feb 20, 2015 - 05:11pm PT
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Climbed with Billy a couple of times in Garden of The Gods. He was far out of my league, but by trying to replicate his approach and moves, I found that the climbs were suddenly doable. I mentioned this to him and he said, "Climbing is 85% mental." Another time I drove Billy & Mike Dudley back to Colorado from Yosemite in my '62 Volkswagen bug. It was filled with gear, so Billy sat in the back seat the whole way with one of those old, big, round, scotch coolers between his legs. In between the bowls we smoked the whole way, he said he was developing a very weird relationship with that cooler. A cop stopped us out n the desert, leaned his head in and took a whiff, and just said, "Have a nice night", and went back to his cruiser. We stopped at Lake Powell and Billy and I dropped acid about 11pm and then climbed out in the girders under the bridge 700' or so over the Colorado River, chimneying between the I-beams way out there. Later, Billy dragged a huge, flat stone out to the middle of the bridge and trundled it. It hit flat on the water and sounded like a bomb. The lights came on all over and by the time the cops arrived, we had climbed back out under the bridge under them and were watching the show. Great time, cool Dude, Billy was The Man.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Feb 20, 2015 - 05:29pm PT
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old dude- cool story and thanks for the share. we got away with so much back then which would land us in jail today.
bump for Billy
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Feb 20, 2015 - 06:53pm PT
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Thanks for that recollection, Grewtipet! Awfully poignant.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Billy was a roughneck, and could be intimidating to approach as Bachar noted in his piece. A “roughneck” is defined as a rowdy person, but it is also slang for a worker on oil rigs-- hard, dangerous work, especially 40 years ago. Billy was a roughneck in both senses of the word, the kind of guy you would like at your side if a bar fight broke out, but he was really a gentle giant when you got to know him.
In 1978, Gerry and I visited Colorado for the first time. We camped the first night after the long drive in Doug Snively’s yard in Estes Park. I was eagerly casting around for a climbing partner to make my first visit to El Dorado canyon. Billy said he would climb with me so we met up in the canyon the next day. He steered us to T-2 as a warm up and then suggested the Northwest Corner on the Bastille.
I led the crux pitch, which unbeknownst to me, had a bit of a reputation back then. When Billy got to the belay, I mentioned something about the protection being kind of sparse. Billy only grinned and said, “You know, I’ve been wanting to do this climb for quite a while.”
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"Otto"
Mountain climber
Buena Vista
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Nov 19, 2016 - 08:29am PT
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Working with Billy at Copper Mt was always a breath of fresh air.Clear and sharp his ideas were enlightening and forward looking.We shared many a morning smoke while heading up F&E lifts to our respective work stations usually complaining about the lack of good steep Mogul runs.He had climbed and skied with friends I knew in Garmisch.We sat together outside Patrol headquarters late one night during a full moon,I was working he was camped out,it was before he got sick, full of life and the future.As one of our favorite couples we were crushed when he passed and more so when we lost Angela.Two days previous she had helped prep our house in Dillon for sale.They are missed.He was a true fighter.
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
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Jul 29, 2017 - 09:30pm PT
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Bump
Susan
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Jul 30, 2017 - 11:32am PT
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Amazing thread! I knew almost nothing of Westbay except of course NIAD which I heard about a week later from a climbing partner who happened to be bivouacked high on Middle Cathedral and watching their headlamps in astonishment.
This thread is a great tribute to one of the lesser known giants of climbing. Thanks to Susan for bumping it.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jul 30, 2017 - 04:10pm PT
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Billy, even when he was older, always had the mischievous grin of a kid caught with his hand in the candy jar.
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| Messages 1 - 56 of total 56 in this topic |
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SuperTopo on the Web
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1971 spring early ascent NA wall El Cap w/Jim Dunn( Billy was a young punk teenage kid on 
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