Eldo Prancers

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Messages 1 - 98 of total 98 in this topic
bob d'antonio

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 2, 2007 - 12:47pm PT
Pretty funny comment from Russ.

Post up!

CG on second ascent of Rainbow Wall


D Hershey


some poser on...Wendego


CG on the FA of Paris Girl


Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Jul 2, 2007 - 12:55pm PT
Bob, you got a new scanner?

I could find a few more old ones, from the days real men wore white pants.
goatboy smellz

climber
colorado
Jul 2, 2007 - 01:17pm PT
Great shots Bob!
That one of Derek with his wild hair cracked me up.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 2, 2007 - 07:08pm PT
Nice Bob,
That's what Russ W was talkin' 'bout!

I ain't got much and we have seen far to little of Eldo on this forum: so post up Chiloe and everybody.


Sue Wint on Genesis:


Tim Toula, aka TNT, wigglin' up Pansee Savage:

Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Jul 2, 2007 - 07:51pm PT
Roger setting a hex before firing Art's Spar, 1974.

Mighty Hiker

Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Jul 2, 2007 - 07:58pm PT
Eldorado certainly has pretty....rock.

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!"

I'm looking forward to the dondering thread.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 2, 2007 - 11:49pm PT
Eldo Prancer, Jim Collins:

bob d'antonio

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 3, 2007 - 12:02am PT
Tar...LeVoid...Classic route.
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Jul 3, 2007 - 01:45am PT
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Jul 3, 2007 - 01:49am PT
Air Sepia
jack herer

climber
veneta, or
Jul 3, 2007 - 02:48am PT
bob-
on your third photo down... whats up with the chalk smear? from peope falling or what?

edit: or is that the rock... am i drunk or what?
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 3, 2007 - 03:23am PT
What I like is the generosity of climbers, true climbers, such as Peter Croft and John Bachar. They would never say they had anything on the Colorado climbers, because they know they don't but also because they know the deeper truths that people are individuals and artists in their own right and come from different backgrounds and different experience. It behooves us all to see into both dark and light and see into the hearts of people and know their very individual gifts. Petty comparisons have only one end: to reduce one person or one group of persons and elevate another, to make precious souls seem of no worth, and for the purpose of some cowardly little ego grandiosity.

When Peter in the early 1990s climbed my 1965 Supremacy Crack, a little tale of my youth, making easy work of it, he didn't tell me or anyone else what a trivial thing it is. He didn't do the climb to prove his superiority. He phoned me and congratulated me on what an achievement it was for its time. He has always had the right perspective, a beautiful soul pure and untainted by the obscene contentions and insecurities of those braying about how superior they or their fellows are to others. Peter also phoned me and told me he finally, after a lot of work, had repeated one of my 1968 boulder problems in Yosemite. He could have kept that a secret, that he had to work at it. He is humble, though. He is honest. When he and I roped up one day and did an old 5.10+ route of mine on Castle Rock, in a slight rain, I watched a master at work. I was perfectly fine recognizing him as my superior, and my superior in a vast way. But he never made me feel such was so. We were comrades, friends on a nice climb on a day when rain fell in bright sunlight.

Some person a short while back blurted that Katy Brown could out climb me. Was that supposed to be a surprise? That's a ridiculous as someone telling John Salathe that Bridwell could outclimb him. Do you think Bridwell, though, ever would show such disrespect? Or that Katy Brown would ever show such contempt? Bridwell knows the contribution Salathe made and how far advanced Salathe was in his day, how bold those early climbs were. David Breashears once wrote me, "You must forgive the young hot shots. They sometimes forget whose shoulders they are standing on to see the horizons of the day."

Prancers, pulling hard, all this terminology. It's just a ruse. What we will remember are the climbs, the sun, the light, the pines, their fragrance... but mostly climbs we did with some good friend from Colorado or California, or elsewhere, on some voluptuous day at some adventurous moment, brief though it was, in eternity.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 3, 2007 - 03:42am PT
very nice Pat
thanks
bob d'antonio

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 3, 2007 - 08:26am PT
Pat hit the nail on head. All of us are standing on someone else shoulders.

If burning someone off is all you take home from a climbing day...something is wrong.

I remember my first meeting with Gill. I had no expectations on his climbing prowness...I just knew I was around greatness.

Jack...the chalk is from palming.
Crag Q

Trad climber
Louisville, Colorado
Jul 3, 2007 - 08:41am PT
Beautiful Pat.
Patrick Sawyer

climber
Originally California now Ireland
Jul 3, 2007 - 08:42am PT
I thought the best climbers came from the Bahamas.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 11:20am PT
Eldo is a treasure trove of really interesting routes.
Its one of those places, much like others and maybe a bit moreso, that reveals itself as you get into it.
Very intricate stuff.

In that picture of Collins on the cover of Mountain 79, he's just exited a balls out, first knuckle, double overhung layback.
(I can't comment on the big roof crux above, out of the picture).

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 11:25am PT
Yes Pat Ament, as always, some pretty steady words there.
Thanks for hangin' in here with us.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 11:28am PT
Greg Cameron, expat Cali Boy, on the upper section of Anthill Direct:

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 11:38am PT
One of the most beloved of all Eldorado climbers,
Derek Hersey, who called Eldo "The Office":


-From "The Climbing Art"
Pat Ament's magazine.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 11:42am PT
Visiting dignitary, Peter Croft:

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 11:46am PT
And while we're at it,
Even though the quote is out of context,
A time honored Ament portrait:


-From Godfrey & Chelton's "CLIMB!"
Wild Bill

climber
Ca
Jul 3, 2007 - 12:14pm PT
Very nice Roy.

I hope Pat is lurking and continues to post.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 12:14pm PT
And one of my personal Eldo favorites, Paul Sibley,
Standing below the Bastille and ready to serve:



Paul on King's X,

-From Godfrey & Chelton's "CLIMB!"
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 12:24pm PT
My Cali buddy, Bob Finn, on Green Spur:



A shot in much the same spot as the upper photo of Green Spur from "CLIMB!"


The upper section of Green Spur:

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 12:28pm PT
Nancy Prichard & Jello after an ascent of The Naked Edge:

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 3, 2007 - 12:37pm PT
Grug on the lower portion of Anthill Direct,
With The Diving Board, just poking up on the left:



And an all time stunning shot of Roger Briggs on The Diving Board's OW crux:


-From "CLIMB!"
bob d'antonio

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 3, 2007 - 12:38pm PT
Some little roof.


Not a Cinch or a Crack.

Bee

climber
Jul 3, 2007 - 12:46pm PT
pat,

wow, i've never teared up before, surfing a climbing web site. but right there, you nailed, it -- the big 'why???' thank you for weighing in. this place is lots of fun, but ... never thought to find lessons from the masters.

Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 3, 2007 - 04:15pm PT
I especially like a line from Wordsworth. It describes really a lot of people I know and also some of the people here.
"Man if he do but live within the light of high endeavors daily spreads abroad his being with a strength which cannot fail."

Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Jul 3, 2007 - 05:49pm PT
Nice try, Roy,(anthill, "Grug") but obviouslly that is Jim Jarmusch, in between projects, getting inspiration for his next quirky movie.
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Jul 3, 2007 - 06:07pm PT
Hey Man. I was feeling pretty swole (my new word of the day - I'm trying to use it in at least three sentences today) being included with all of these GOOD climbers. But to tell you the truth, one grey-haired dude looks like another, even to me.
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Jul 3, 2007 - 06:21pm PT
Still working on the etymology of "swole", with all the brown hairs I still have left. Working on a cool salt and pepper beard, too!

Back on topic, though I have only climbed Bastille, redgard(?) Supremecy and a few others I can't remember (plus bunches of boulders); But man, those prancers keep turning up, what a surly bunch!™!!
Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:01am PT
Not a prancer because he never wore lycra, but in his day, this guy had legitimate "pull."

Oli in 1978.

Dragon with Matches

climber
Bamboo Grove
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:32am PT
Great photo of Mr. Ament on a truly great route.

Outer Space is one of my favorites, anywhere. I first led it while very uncertain at the grade (still am, generally), mostly because I loved the history and the aura. The great moves and exposure were mere bonus, as was the moment when I spotted the scratched-in graffiti higher on the pitch. I felt like a kid at Christmas.

LK, now there's a climber's climber. Go dance about on some of his routes, in Eldo or elsewhere, and let us know if the term "prancer" comes to mind. I'd think not.
bob d'antonio

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 4, 2007 - 11:36am PT
That is a really beautiful shot of Pat. Young, fit, powerful and in his element.

Nice Rick!
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 4, 2007 - 08:09pm PT
Seems strange, even surreal, that when we did that climb I was already way past my prime and going downhill fast. But I was beginning to understand more the beauty of simply being in those airy, mysterious places with a choice friend or two. Rick, those are dear memories... when you and Gerry showed up in Boulder. My head was swimming then, from a painful breakup, but I remember you two were like a wonderful new discovery, two fine spirits with whom I immediately wanted to share life and climbing. Do you remember the tour I took you two on, through the secret hidden tunnel behind the waterfull in Eldorado? We were like kids, when I look back on it now...
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 4, 2007 - 09:11pm PT
-from "CLIMB!",
The incomparable Naked Edge:

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 4, 2007 - 09:59pm PT
Sue Wint on Rosy Crucifixion:



Standing on the shoulders of those who came before us...
Bob Culp, also on Rosy, in Robbins Boots:

WBraun

climber
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:06pm PT
Great thread and great photos.

When I went to Eldorado canyon I was scared sh'itless. Those are some stout routes out there.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:08pm PT
Those Climb photos are absolute classics, Tar, thanks for posting them. That book was a landmark.

Less classic but kinda historical in their way, here are a couple more of Dudley Chelton's photos -- you might call these outtakes from Climb. The route is Black Walk, in 1972.


Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:09pm PT
Happy 4th Werner!
What's for dinner?
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:11pm PT
Chiloe,
I did BlackWalk with Jim Logan & Paul Sibley.
Cool moves; only route I did with Logan & he is a jewel.
WBraun

climber
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:15pm PT
Thanks Roy and same to you.

Dinner, Hahahaha, is Tabouli.

109 degrees F in the Valley today.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:19pm PT
Some local dirtfarmer,
Prancing up the Birdwalk pitch on Redguard:




And Chiloe,
What is it, Adventures in Snowdonia?
The book which inspired CLIMB!
I feel this is a perfect example of the style:
(Birdwalk again)



..and the boots which many Eldorati used,
Including 'dude in the above B&W photo,
& dudes in the B&W's throughout Climb!:


Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:42pm PT
Here's an honorary Eldo Prancer,
Sir David Yerian:

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:47pm PT
...Yerian tried his hand at dirt farmin' with me,
But din't much take to it:



So off we went to Eldo:


Where we took that dowgie fer a walk,
&cracked off Yellow Spur in an hour and a half:
(Kor was probably faster...)


Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 4, 2007 - 10:57pm PT
From CLIMB!
The Yellow Spur's 5th or so pitch:

MisterE

Social climber
Across town from Easy Street
Jul 5, 2007 - 12:00am PT
CG's banana hammock solo shot set the new standard for Eldo Prancing
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 5, 2007 - 12:25am PT
Can you believe it is now 43 years since Royal and I did the first free ascent of Yellow Spur?

I promise you I did not teach Christian that vanity, that banana hammock stuff. He learned it on his own.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 5, 2007 - 12:43am PT
Shoot Oli,
43 years.
Some stuff got done eh?

Here's a guy with skills,
David Breashears, yah, prancing Krystal Klyr:
(epitome of run out...)


...I have no pictures of my own to match this one.

Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Jul 5, 2007 - 10:51am PT
And Chiloe,
What is it, Adventures in Snowdonia?
The book which inspired CLIMB!


The book is Rock Climbers in Action in Snowdonia published in 1966, written by Tony Smythe and illustrated by John Cleare. Both the text and the photos are excellent. I'll scan a few photos later today and post those if somebody doesn't beat me to it.

Nice work keeping the Eldo magic going in this thread.
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Jul 5, 2007 - 11:13am PT
I would have to say that Eldorado ratings are the hardest of any area I have climbed.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Jul 5, 2007 - 01:05pm PT
I would have to say that Eldorado ratings are the hardest of any area I have climbed.

Which routes are you thinking of? The traditional ratings from Oli's blue guidebook have puffed up a wee bit since Ye Olde Days, back when Bastille Crack was 5.6, Grand Giraffe was 5.8, and Umph Slot just 5.9.

Gunks grades seem to have held the line well, leading some folks to complain that they're sandbags. But I'm not current about Eldo.
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Jul 5, 2007 - 02:06pm PT
Here's a few off the top of my head:

Black Walk: 5.10c
Rosy Crucifiction: 5.10a
King's X: 5.10d
Evangeline: 5.11b
Center Route (Rincon): 5.11a
Super Slab: 5.10d

I'd say that all of these climbs would be rated at least a letter grade harder in most areas.

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 5, 2007 - 02:43pm PT
You don't have enough 5.9+ on that list Grug, er, eeyonkee.
Let's go do one to confirm, you know, just to be sure.
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 5, 2007 - 03:08pm PT
Honestly I don't think those climbs named would be rated any different in any other area. I've climbed enough 5.11 in Yosemite and Tuolumne and enough 5.10 to have a pretty good sense. But each area has its own exhilaration factor, if you want to call it that. If you're not used to the rock, or the kind of steepness presented, it can seem harder. If you've never been to the Gunks and show up unawares, even easier climbs done by the great early climbers can seem pretty amazing. Then again, if you're used to using those flat holds of the Gunks and come to Eldorado, where holds are every which way, sloping, round, undercut, curled in, curled out, pointy, polished, pschedelically varied to infinity, it's going to catch some off guard and seem too wierd for words. If you climb 5.11 in Eldorado all the time but have never done a 5.10 off-width in Yosemite, that off-width is going to feel like 5.12c. It's all about taking the time to get oriented to each area, getting tuned into the kinds of secrets of technique that certain types of rock inspire, although a few climbers are so good they naturally orient to wherever they go... You there, John B.?
steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
Jul 5, 2007 - 03:25pm PT
I personally thought Rosy was pretty underrated (for 10a) and I'd just climbed Outer Space the day before without too much problem.

Eldo tends to offer up a different kind of climbing than a lot of areas out west just in terms of holds and movement. Always seems to take me a little bit of time to get my mind wrapped around the different style there and feel comfortable.
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Jul 5, 2007 - 03:31pm PT
I suppose it could mostly be the fact that I grew up climbing on So Cal granite, but even after living in the Front Ranges for years, I find the Eldorado ratings stiffer than anywhere else. On the other hand, I find most wide cracks overrated...so there you go.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 5, 2007 - 03:35pm PT
I agree with Oli.
When I came here from Yosemite/JTree, I found the Eldo ratings consistent with good solid trad ratings. I had a good background in bouldering as well as long enduro leads and I found that kind of experience fed into Eldo sequences and made them feel just right for the grade. JTree, some would say, is stiff, because it is rounded and pumpy, with lots of laybacks, but that's just what it is. Rosy always feels weird, a lot of it is the fear factor on that traverse, where you always want bigger (or any) footholds to compensate the stunning position.

Soft sport climbing ratings have always tugged at the prior trad standard.
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 5, 2007 - 05:32pm PT
Ratings sometimes vary if you have a shorter or taller body, or your fingers are thinner or thicker. On Over the Hill everyone goes up that little dihedral at the start of the third pitch real easy-like, with their fingers in to the hilt, for an easy lieback move. I have to stem and do all sorts of things, because I can't get more than the tips of my fingers in there.

It probably is a full grade more difficult to follow than to lead that first section of Rosy Crucifixion. The leader goes out, with one initial scary step but then bomber pro, but the second must unclip that pro and looks at a huge swing if s/he falls. Koeberdanz is much harder to follow. The leader can clip in above and move right, with a wild but harmless swing if s/he falls. The second looks at a different kind of fall, must less pleasant. I can think of countless routes in Eldorado that are harder to follow than lead.

You guys are bringing back some great memories of those yellow/red/purple/green walls of joy and glory. Imagine having the whole canyon to yourself, back in "those" days. The owner of the resort and property, Mr. Fowler, was a good ol' guy, kind of crazy, but for that I liked him. He would scream up the canyon in his truck and chase you down for the twenty-five cent charge to get in through the gate. Some climbers would go to great extremes, hike even way up and around the top of the Bastille, to avoid that quarter...
bvb

Social climber
flagstaff arizona
Jul 5, 2007 - 05:45pm PT
tardaddy, i remember about a thousand years ago we were talking grades and you had a theory you called the "three point spread" -- if i recall correctly your belief was that grades were so imperfect and subjective that you had to approach a climb with the idea that it was likely the thing was gonna feel up to three letter grades harder or easier that whatever number they had punched into the guidebook...
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 5, 2007 - 08:39pm PT
Yah BVB and that 3 point spread should about cover any fussiness with grades. I always liked the old 9-10-11 plus/minus approach and think it sets the mind in a better place.

A guy once said: 5.9, 5.10, 5.11: it's all the same.
Now that's a bit over the top, but what he meant was, you gotta know how to climb, protect, and employ all the refined techniques to do any of that well and the moves are pretty much the same, plus or minus a good deal of oohmf...
Raydog

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Jul 5, 2007 - 10:42pm PT
great stuff everyone - Tar, thanks for the pics of Yerian.

Bob, those CG shots are priceless...

Was hoping someone would scan the one of him from R&I, wearing briefs with "death is a gift" written across the front - those were the days!


Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 6, 2007 - 08:19pm PT
What has become of Dave Yerian? I ran into him quite often in Tuolumne in the early-mid 1980s, and he was full of energy and life force. He was suffering at that time mightily, as his dear mother had passed away, his best friend. One day at the little restaurant on the east side of Tioga Pass, I was having breakfast with Higgins, and Dave stormed in and joined us... He seemed like a madman. But one you could like.
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Jul 6, 2007 - 08:24pm PT
aparently he's a bay area guy now, I see him (at a distance, don't know him to talk with him) all the time.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 6, 2007 - 09:00pm PT
Dave checks in with me about once a year Pat, usually after he changes girls & gets a new phone number!

Your right, crazy guy with a heart of gold. (Like some of the rest of us).

He has been pumping iron and is in great shape & good spirits.
Batrock

Trad climber
Burbank
Jul 6, 2007 - 09:07pm PT
Oli,

Has anyone ever told you that you reminded them of a all grown up Everett Ruess?
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 7, 2007 - 02:30am PT
I don't know who that is. Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing? I couldn't guess.
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 7, 2007 - 02:30am PT
And anyway some say I still need to grow up.
Batrock

Trad climber
Burbank
Jul 7, 2007 - 02:59am PT
It's a good thing. You should get a copy of "A Vagabond for Beauty".
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Jul 21, 2007 - 01:20am PT

Sharon Sadlier on Yellow Spur. Eldo Prancer.
Raydog

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Jul 21, 2007 - 01:32am PT
RE:
"What has become of Dave Yerian?"

last time I saw him was in Santa Monica with his girlfriend - it was back when I was working at Gregory probably 1992/3 - I also wonder how he's doing etc.?

Yerian was my first in Yosemite in '77.

Anyone have an update on Dave?

Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Jul 21, 2007 - 01:48am PT

Rosy...You're so alright......
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 21, 2007 - 10:59am PT
Hey Ray,
I may have mentioned upthread, perhaps elswhere in the forum, Yerian is doing great. We spoke a month or so back. He has Arnold's weight training book on his nightstand, he's pumping iron and super fit.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 21, 2007 - 11:58am PT
Prancer?
I don't think so...



And check out Kor making big lanky moves up on the Yellow Wall of The Diamond:


...the route really climbs that way too; long reaches to good locks & edges.

(both photos from CLIMB!)
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 21, 2007 - 01:17pm PT
More from CLIMB!


Roger Briggs (...I think)
On NW Corner of The Bastille.
Check out the articulate poise in his hand gestures.
These are an artist's hands at work:



And again on Vertigo,
One of my all time favorite climbing photos,
It was reproduced in a more cropped version in an old ASCENT,
So much air & light:

Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Jul 21, 2007 - 09:59pm PT
Todd, props to you for starting/reviving all these climbing-photo threads, and adding some fine new material. I'll kick in a few over the next coupla days.


And again on Vertigo,
One of my all time favorite climbing photos,


Tar, you might get a kick out of this unpublished Chelton photo, an outtake from that same Vertigo series:


Jello

Social climber
No Ut
Jul 23, 2007 - 12:27am PT
Mike Weis on the classic Mellow Yellow.

-MellowYellowPhotoByJello
Raydog

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Jul 23, 2007 - 12:29am PT
guys thanks for the Dave Yerian update - very good to hear.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 11, 2013 - 01:11am PT
bump
MisterE

Social climber
Jul 11, 2013 - 01:35am PT
This bears repeating, it is so well written:

Oli/Patrick Oliver:

What I like is the generosity of climbers, true climbers, such as Peter Croft and John Bachar. They would never say they had anything on the Colorado climbers, because they know they don't but also because they know the deeper truths that people are individuals and artists in their own right and come from different backgrounds and different experience. It behooves us all to see into both dark and light and see into the hearts of people and know their very individual gifts. Petty comparisons have only one end: to reduce one person or one group of persons and elevate another, to make precious souls seem of no worth, and for the purpose of some cowardly little ego grandiosity.

When Peter in the early 1990s climbed my 1965 Supremacy Crack, a little tale of my youth, making easy work of it, he didn't tell me or anyone else what a trivial thing it is. He didn't do the climb to prove his superiority. He phoned me and congratulated me on what an achievement it was for its time. He has always had the right perspective, a beautiful soul pure and untainted by the obscene contentions and insecurities of those braying about how superior they or their fellows are to others. Peter also phoned me and told me he finally, after a lot of work, had repeated one of my 1968 boulder problems in Yosemite. He could have kept that a secret, that he had to work at it. He is humble, though. He is honest. When he and I roped up one day and did an old 5.10+ route of mine on Castle Rock, in a slight rain, I watched a master at work. I was perfectly fine recognizing him as my superior, and my superior in a vast way. But he never made me feel such was so. We were comrades, friends on a nice climb on a day when rain fell in bright sunlight.
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Aug 20, 2015 - 11:01pm PT
Can't believe I haven't commented on this thread I will definitely be looking it over closely soon
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 20, 2015 - 11:05pm PT
I will definitely be looking it over closely soon

Yes, look it over closely, one wants to be very sure of his first Lycra purchase!
Pewf

climber
Gunnison, CO
Oct 25, 2017 - 12:42pm PT
Approaching the West Ridge:

https://www.facebook.com/awakenwithjp/videos/1903376013011585/

(bump)
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Oct 25, 2017 - 02:04pm PT
Amanda!

What up girlfriend?

That is top-notch entertainment and way too funny!

He says, in total deadpan delivery:
I've been prancercising for about 10 years, my results have been off the charts.

Dude has some legs on him, that's for sure.
Pewf

climber
Gunnison, CO
Oct 25, 2017 - 02:45pm PT
Hey Roy :) How are you guys?? We're great. I'm just writing books and raising kittens. Bit of climbing here and there. Dragged the family on a grand adventure up their first little desert tower.

Still holding down the fort in Ned? Please say hi to Lisa from us!

(yes, magnificent thighs on the prancer!)
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Oct 25, 2017 - 03:18pm PT
So great to hear from you, Amanda.
Been meaning to drop you a line.

Lisa trained for Pike's Peak this year, and won the women's Masters division!
I took some walks (prancing) on the high tundra, which was rejuvenating to say the least.

Thinking of Ella now!
That brilliant little soul of yours. I bet she's at times precocious and a lot of fun!

Desert tower (even if little) with your chubby hubby and daughter: awesome reportage!

[edit]
Sent an e-mail to your manda.forrest address. Hope that's current.
Pewf

climber
Gunnison, CO
Oct 25, 2017 - 06:25pm PT
Congratulations to you and Lisa both. Sounds like a great summer! Stay in touch, 'kay?
chill

climber
The fat part of the bell-curve
Oct 26, 2017 - 08:23am PT
Nice pictures Bob, never saw this thread before. My only Eldo picture, prancing my way up to Art's Spar (note the hexes, vintage rack):
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 26, 2017 - 09:40pm PT
It really brings back some wonderful days for me seeing these pictures. I began my climbing "career" there, although I wasn't as committed as many because of my involvement in my career choice and school. But seeing the pics of Yellow Spur, Anthill Direct, and Birdwalk always brings back memories.
Kalimon

Social climber
Ridgway, CO
Oct 26, 2017 - 09:51pm PT
It behooves us all to see into both dark and light and see into the hearts of people and know their very individual gifts. Petty comparisons have only one end: to reduce one person or one group of persons and elevate another, to make precious souls seem of no worth, and for the purpose of some cowardly little ego grandiosity.

The best thing I have learned on ST. This is the consciousness of the future.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Oct 26, 2017 - 10:37pm PT
Fred Knapp/ Naked Edge
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 27, 2017 - 08:16am PT
I also loved the shots on the Green Spur! Too bad the climb doesn't have a better upper section--deteriorates into poor rock. That dihedral pitch is outstanding.

I never qualified to be a Prancer, since I never wore lycra, and didn't wear shorts; too much poison ivy around for my taste.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Oct 27, 2017 - 08:21am PT
I don't know, Brokedown, I rather like the upper pitches of Green Spur. It has that nifty roof! Love that climb, and used to solo it on a regular basis along with lots of other classics of the grade. But not blindfolded, mind you! Was saving that for later ...

And PEOPLE!

Clicking on this link is an absolute MUST!
A total sendup of what it is to be an Eldo PRANCER:

https://www.facebook.com/awakenwithjp/videos/1903376013011585/
Pewf

climber
Gunnison, CO
Oct 27, 2017 - 08:34am PT
Amanda, from the Wreck.ClimbedOut?

Hey DMT, indeed it is. Long time! How are you?
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 27, 2017 - 12:00pm PT
Tarbuster; there are lots of nice routes over on the West wall: Green Slab Direct; Rewritten; Great Zot; Rebuffat Arete--too many to list here.
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Oct 27, 2017 - 12:05pm PT
I'd be prancing (for joy) too if I made it up any of those routes you all been showing. Nice thread!
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