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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 6, 2007 - 01:34am PT
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I have been fortunate enough to have vocal correspondence with him weekly! He says hi and is not comfortable with the internet. I offered to pass on his messages. Any questions?
Ken
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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I missed him last week. When is he coming by for beers?
I wanna hear some Don Whillans stories from the South Face of Annapurna! Where else can you get the real deal, man?
WHILLANS! We want Whillans!
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Donny... the OHHH!- Riginal
Sport climber
Liberal, KS
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I would like to thank him for giving us jewels such as this:
"Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things
To yield with a grace to reason
And bow and accept at the end
Of a love or a season."
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WBraun
climber
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Tom Frost has a jewel of a heart.
Such a fine man .....
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 6, 2007 - 02:15am PT
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Pete, He does not drink beers and will bring his own water. Any questions for him? This could be huge!
Ken
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Alex Perry
Trad climber
California
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That link is not the same Tom Frost, though the real Yosemite Frost is an LDS High Priest.
Frost was too much of a tea-totaller for Whillans. Whillans related more to Pratt and Ament and Bridwell.
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Alex Perry
Trad climber
California
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Ken, aren't you the one who spearheaded the Camp 4 stuff with Frost? Didn't Ament help with the documents and writings? I think I saw some writing of his on the internet somewhere on the subject. Is the park service still trying to build things against everyone's wishes?
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Thanks for more than I can bring up.
One thing I will always recall is a slideshow he gave us at a CMC event in Chicago (annapurna?) circa 1970 that ended with his reinactment of the spitting blessing he received from a budhist monk/tibetan holy man (these details!) at the time I didn't know about his own religous place but was impressed with his acceptance of some one else's very different take on things. Now that I've lived in Utah I am even more impressed.
Also, thanks for introducing me (a snot-nosed 14yr old) to Harding/Caldwell at same event. "These guys just came from a really, big adventure..." My impression was that he valued other people's journeys with out judgement on their differences ... I've tried to keep some of that.
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darod
Big Wall climber
South Side Billburg
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Donny, that would be Robert, not Tom...
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kimgraves
Trad climber
Brooklyn, NY
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Tom is a good photographer. When I put up his website we designed it around his classic photos. There's one on every page and a photo gallery also.
Pete - you asked about the South Face of Annapurna....
frostworksclimbing.com
Best, Kim
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 6, 2007 - 11:40am PT
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Walleye,
When Tom makes a promise, he keeps it.
Ken
Edit: Alex, that was all Tom's doing. I only supported it.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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I saw Tom and Royal at the Facelift opening--such great folks!
He's heard it a bunch, I bet (and from me), but I REALLY want to thank him for his time in making "Sunnyside" Camp 4 again.
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jstan
climber
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This would seem to be off topic – but it really isn’t.
In Netflix’s “Crude Awakening” I think it was the Professor
from Cal Tech who believes the planet can support on the
order of two billion people in the absence of petroleum.
Presently there are some six billion people. Eighty years is
probably a good estimate of the time for oil to be largely
depleted.
Which means young people alive today are going to be in
the middle of it.
My question. How and when do you think individual people
might start putting this problem on their radar screens?
I calculate a birth rate of 1.3 is needed which compares well
with Germany’s present voluntary rate of 1.3-1.4 and with
China’s compulsory rate of 1.0.
The film I mentioned is well worth watching. One telling bit.
One of the Cal Tech professor’s grad students said to him,
“Let me see. Do I have this right? You are telling me my
grandchildren will never fly in an airplane? The prof. replied,
“Quite probably.”
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Ken,
Thanks for saying those things about Frost. Someone else said, "Tom is a good photographer." Good? That's ridiculously understated. Frost and Denny were in a league of their own, true masters of the art.
Something to pass on to Frost for me that he'll understand:
"Tom, feel the spirit. It's never too late."
Pat Ament
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2007 - 04:34am PT
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Thanks Pat,
We haven't met yet. I hope that will change in the future and I will pass your message on to him. I talk to him more than my own father and I talk plenty.
Ken
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Anastasia
Trad climber
California
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Tom Frost, what an honor to have him say hello to us!
Please post more pictures of his. They are great!
AF
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2007 - 11:31am PT
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Anastasia, This one is for you.
Ken
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Three modest climbing legends, together for the first time - John Stannard, Tom Frost, Royal Robbins. All climbers owe a great deal to them for their vision and leadership.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Ken,
We will meet hopefully. I hear nothing but good about you, and I appreciate your support of Tom -- who was an older brother to me for twenty years (before moving back to California). Keep up the good work.
Pat
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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What does Tom like about climbing and the climbing community today?
What does Tom dislike about climbing and the climbing community today?
any comparisons to the climbing community when he started, and when he was doing Big Wall FAs?
Sincerely,
Munge
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Kilgore Trout
Trad climber
NJ
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Tell him that Frost Sentinels kick ass. I love those things.
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scuffy b
climber
The deck above the 5
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Tom, thanks for teaching me how to tie a double-fisherman's knot
in 1971.
I carry my keys on a string tied with one, so I'm reminded of you
almost every day.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 8, 2007 - 05:59pm PT
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"What does Tom like about climbing and the climbing community today?"
Answer "It is family.I am impressed with climbers, what they do, and who they are. You continue to be an inspiration."
"What does Tom dislike about climbing and the climbing community today?"
Answer "I have no dislikes".
"any comparisons to the climbing community when he started, and when he was doing Big Wall FAs?"
Answer "The spirit is still there. We had the advantage of not having topos. We studied the routes and learned to know the rock."
"Tell him that Frost Sentinels kick ass. I love those things."
"Thanks for the compliment"
Scuffy b,your comment moved him.
Ken
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 10, 2007 - 10:46am PT
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Munge, Did you see his answers?
Ken
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Howie
Trad climber
Calgary, Alberta
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Oct 10, 2007 - 10:58am PT
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Tell him his Sentinel nuts work like magic.
Howie
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Oct 10, 2007 - 11:22am PT
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Tell em his nuts work like Cheater sticks. I make a point of bringing one up a wall to reach rivets.
I'd have to second Walleye's question. What can he say about Nanda Devi if anything? If he's got to keep a promise can he promise us that what's up there is good, safe and not some evil thang?
Also, name some old sckool routes that nobody does anymore that might be dusted off and get popular again. What are the potential hidden gems in the Roper's guide?
Tom's a great guy. Folks can just feel his heart is in the right place.
Peace
Karl
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wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
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Oct 10, 2007 - 11:29am PT
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I'll jump on the old school gear appreciation bandwagon:
They keep me going upwords, and help me from moving too far downwards.
Wait, all the climbing I do is in the gym. Still, I suspect the theory is correct (well tested).
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Slakkey
Trad climber
From a Quiet Place by the Lake
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Oct 10, 2007 - 12:23pm PT
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What many may not know about Tom Frost is he was an excellent sailor winning several Championships. I do not know Tom personally but, know some who had raced with and aginst him. One in particular is Bob Dickson who did not even know Tom went on to become a Rock Climbing Legend. He did say though that Tom was a pretty dam good sailor back then.
It would be cool to hear about some of Toms sailing stories.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Oct 10, 2007 - 12:50pm PT
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Tom once took me "sailing." We were on a lecture tour we did together all through the west, and down the coast of California (this was 1978). In one of those cities (I'm having trouble remembering which one, maybe Monterrey), he took me out in a tiny boat (it seemed like the smallest boat any two people could ride in), and we puttered around out there. He showed me some turns and tricks, though I didn't learn them well enough to remember them. When Tom climbs or sails or almost whatever, it seems always with tongue-in-cheek, a chuckle at the heart of everything.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 10, 2007 - 04:02pm PT
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Thanks for the links, Karl.
> ... what may someday turn out to be the deadliest, ...
A "definite maybe", I guess. I'm willing to go with Schaller's observation that future contamination could be very diluted. In any event, it appears to be Kohli's decision to leave it up on the hill where it got swept off. Little control over that for the other members of the team.
The CIA missions may seem like a strange choice for climbers who we might think of as independent souls. But that may be just be from our perspective of the 70s and later. In the 60s with the Cold War going on, I'm sure it was a patriotic motivation. There were a lot of climbers in the 10th Mountain Division in WW II, also. If you want to talk about "deadliest expeditions", the battles in Italy could qualify as the deadliest so far. But the climbers did not have many choices in that, either.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 10, 2007 - 04:09pm PT
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OK, here are some questions for Tom via Ken:
1. What was your hardest aid lead?
2. Hardest free lead? (not necessarily in terms of rating, but what felt hardest at the time, using the equipment of the day).
3. Were there any Yosemite climbs which you wanted to do, but did not get around to? (either repeats or FAs).
[edit to add more questions!]
4. What climbs did you do in Yosemite with John Harlin?
5. What was your favorite carabiner design?
(I am assuming you worked on those; if not I suppose you could still name you favorite biner...).
6. Are you working on any new climbing gear design projects?
(I just read Pat Ament's nice biography of Tom in Climbing March 1999, which answered some of my other questions).
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Oct 10, 2007 - 04:16pm PT
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Question for Tom:
If you were 23 years old today, strong as you ever were and proficient in modern techniques, how would you approach climbing in today's world? (given what's already been done, what's being done, and what's there to do)
peace
karl
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 12, 2007 - 10:24pm PT
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Answers to your questions.
About Nanda Devi. "No comment"
Clints questions.
1."Several, 3rd pitch of the NA,,Little John Center, Horizontal pitch out of the Cyclops Eye were all fun. Scariest was the Roof Pitch out to the Headwall on the Salathe."
2. "Several, Dog Leg Cracks on the West Face of Sentinel, Steck- Salathe was the hardest, scariest, most physical route and fun. Did it six or seven times. The 1st pitch in the Great Chimney leading to the Narrows intimidated me the most because of it's lack of pro."
3. "I got to do all the ones that sung to my heart. I would have liked to do Lost Arrow Chimney again because I don't remember it well."
4. "None. I climbed with him on Bay Area outcrops near Stanford and then in the Alps. We did the South Face of the Fou and the Hidden Pillar on Mont Blanc. Our schooling at Stanford only over lapped for one quarter."
5."The first one I designed that came out after the Alcoa D biner. It was a drop forged slightly D shaped oval that had Chouinard on it."
6. "Only in my head. Would like to, if I had a partner."
Karls question.
"When I started, I was inspired by Salathe and his routes. Now I am inspired by Leo Houlding and Ivo Nunov for their desires to free climb El Cap from the bottom. I am also inspired by Piana, Skinner and Lynn Hill for their free climbing vision on the big walls and Hans Florine for his speed climbing efforts. If I was good enough today, I would try to follow their footsteps."
Ken
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2007 - 12:27pm PT
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His scariest lead.
I have a lot more photos.
Ken
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2007 - 12:36pm PT
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I love these shots.
Ken
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 14, 2007 - 01:09pm PT
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Has Tom Frost published his b&w climbing/mtn photos in a book or have any plans do do so?
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2007 - 01:25pm PT
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Hi Roy,
He plans to, though not right away.
Ken
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 14, 2007 - 01:31pm PT
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Just look at that...
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2007 - 01:39pm PT
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Three more for your viewing pleasure.
Ken
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Anastasia
Trad climber
California
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Oct 14, 2007 - 01:42pm PT
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I love these pictures!
I end up smiling back.
AF
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2007 - 01:59pm PT
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Ken
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2007 - 02:46pm PT
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Ken
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2007 - 11:03pm PT
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Any more questions? Or should I just post more photos?
Ken
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Caveman
climber
Cumberland Plateau
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Oct 15, 2007 - 01:29am PT
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Wow, look at all that laid line! By all means, more pics please.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 15, 2007 - 09:22am PT
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Ken
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 15, 2007 - 10:18am PT
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Old school.
Ken
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| Messages 1 - 49 of total 49 in this topic |
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