Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 48 of total 48 in this topic |
O.D.
Trad climber
LA LA Land
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 25, 2008 - 06:53pm PT
|
When I began climbing at age fourteen, my sports heroes were not the football, basketball, or baseball stars of the day, but rather, men like Gaston Rebuffat, Lionel Terray, and the ultimate rock star (of my day) Royal Robbins.
Today, I learned that this classic photo of Gaston Rebuffat was one of the images archived on the "Golden Record" that was placed aboard the Voyager spacecraft.
I find that to be way cool!
Gaston Rebuffat (from the 1986 AAJ)
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 07:05pm PT
|
Rebuffat, Terray, Buhl, Harrer were some of the first books I read about climbing as a teenager, and they made a big impression on me too. (Also new-worlders Hornbein and Roberts.) Didn't know this classic posed photo had traveled so far, though. Cool thought.
|
|
philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 07:10pm PT
|
God speed Gaston.
|
|
cintune
climber
Penn's Woods
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 07:13pm PT
|
Sacre bleu. Would you care for some runout with that...er...haul-loop tie-in, monsieur?
Representin' to the ETs just what life on this planet is ALL about.
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 07:13pm PT
|
Here's a video of Rebuffat climbing. I didn't watch the whole thing - it's eight minutes. But it might include the iconic photo of him on the Chamonix Aiguilles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_lhkJWiEGc
I saw him speak in Vancouver in May 1971 - very impressive. "Entre Terre et Ciel" - Between Heaven and Earth. His books were good, though perhaps a bit lyrical and poetic.
|
|
philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 07:18pm PT
|
Gaston Rebuffat; Great mountaineer and the best hair in climbing.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
The West
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 08:02pm PT
|
cool Video! better yet if you understand French! ... Wish I did.
|
|
couchmaster
climber
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 08:07pm PT
|
Man. that pic of Rebuffet is as good as it gets.
There is another one of him that compares as well. He's on one of the Pic de somethings, on the top of the Aguille de Midi or something or other, standing on a narrow thin pinnacle, out in the middle of nowhere - smack dab some where in the Alps. You almost sh#t when you see it it's that good - damn.
Good sh#t.
|
|
couchmaster
climber
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 08:42pm PT
|
Ahhh, found it:
Except I remember him having a coil of rope in his hand....which intensifies the picture.
|
|
Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2008 - 11:30pm PT
|
I joined the "Adventure Library" to get two posters of those wonderful Rebuffat pictures...
the one above in O.D.'s post is also on page 70 of On Ice And Snow And Rock. The caption of in the books is:
"As well as physical balance there is another kind, which is even more important: mental balance. This is the keystone of all mountaineering, both in the earlier stages and in the most exacting ascents."
the title of the poster is: "Mental balance is the keystone of all mountaineering."
the photographer is not attributed, and the credits in the back of the book do not specify which picture goes with what photographer... bummer.
The other poster is entitled "Ascent of Mt. Blanc by the Arete de Bosses" and is attributed to G. Rubuffat..
Both of these posters hang in my study at home... they are childhood inspiration
|
|
Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 12:35am PT
|
May I poke fun at you a little, Mighty Hiker. Your comment amused me about Rebuffat's writing being "a bit poetic and lyrical." Heaven forbid that one should commit that sin. I wish more writing in the climbing and mountaineering genres were as well written as Rebuffat's. Most work takes a big hit in quality when it's translated, unless the translator is some kind of phenomenally gifted writer him/herself, but Rebuffat's is so good, so tight, even in translation one can only imagine how beautiful, lyrical, and poetic the original French must be, as opposed to so much flat or ill-spirited writing we see in so many publications these days. I recently finished Rebuffat's classic "Starlight and Storm" (translated by Wilfred Noyce and Lord Hunt). What an amazing insight into climbing and into the spirit of climbing, communicating above all his love for the mountains. The book left me with vivid impressions. So many great lines, such as, "Life, the luxury of being!" There will be some of us who will feel perhaps at least mildly ashamed for the fun made of his name in years gone by, in some sense trying to diminish him. He was a master climber, in fact. It was a great personal privilege for me to finally meet him, shake his hand, and speak with him quite a few years ago when I was a judge at the Telluride Mountainfilm festival...
My best to you,
Pat
|
|
mark miller
Social climber
Reno
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 01:03am PT
|
Gaston and Pierre Mazeaud were my 70's heros.......Does it get any better?
|
|
Jello
Social climber
No Ut
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 01:12am PT
|
Great to hear from you, Pat!
I agree, Rebuffat is inspirational like few others. Speaking of balance--physical and mental--I've often used this quote from one of his books: "Action and contemplation--never one without the other."
I'm now in the contemplative stage, myself.
-Jello
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 01:23am PT
|
Thanks, Pat. I wasn't being critical of Rebuffat's writing, far from it. Simply making an observation. The world of climbing could do with more poetry, and more stories and story tellers. Not lurid overwrought purple passages, where the desperate writer heaps on the unnecessary adjectives for lack of anything better to do. (And as I just did.) Just well written, or well spoken, accounts, that elicit a genuine response in the listener or reader.
Too much current climbing writing lacks that soul: "I pulled really really hard on a tiny hold. Then I did it again. And again and again and again. But I did it somewhere exotic, with pretty pictures, wearing unusual clothing, and piled on jargon to make it seem meaningful."
I suspect Rebuffat's writings were translated quite well. He spoke fairly good English and would have checked it himself. That, combined with good climber-translators, would make a huge difference. A lot of climbing writing translated into English doesn't have those advantages.
It may have been redundant to say "lyrical and poetic". :-)
ps Do I get brownie points for finding the Rebuffat video?
|
|
Fletcher
Trad climber
Varied locales along the time and space continuum
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 01:52am PT
|
Awesome photos and thoughts here..
Ditto on the poetry aspect. Right on.
I've had Starlight and Storm on my reading pile for years. Time to percolate that one to the top.
I was inspired to by that after reading Herzog's Annapurna. There was a great sense of compassion that came through in that book for me, as I recall.
Fletch
|
|
graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 02:07am PT
|
"Jupiter seen by Voyager 1 probe with blue filter. One image was taken every Jupiter day (approximately 10 hours). These pictures were taken from 01/06 to 02/03, 1979 ; and Voyager 1 flew from 58 million to 31 million kilometers from Jupiter during that time."
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
The West
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 02:08am PT
|
I grew up with those books too!
|
|
graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 02:21am PT
|
"I was inspired to by that after reading Herzog's Annapurna. There was a great sense of compassion that came through in that book for me, as I recall."
Read David Roberts' True Summit.
|
|
426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 01:23pm PT
|
It took me a long time to get Starlight and Storm.
The old boy's pretty smooth climbing with a pack on...
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 01:25pm PT
|
The very picture of suave and debonair.
|
|
Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 - 02:03pm PT
|
I remember as a kid trying to look exactly like Gaston, with that super erect posture and the poised but concerned look on his face. He was our spiritual guide. He made the whole thing romantic and imaginitive. He was a soul climber and will always be a hero to me.
JL
|
|
Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
|
|
|
Jan 27, 2008 - 02:03pm PT
|
Johnny the kid, poised, but concerned. Teflon at Rubidoux, 1972.
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Jan 27, 2008 - 10:39pm PT
|
That's the way you do it, Le Gaston!
|
|
don coyote
climber
mahogany ridge
|
|
|
Jan 28, 2008 - 12:10am PT
|
Etoile et Tempete was always one of my favorites. Skip the instructional,read between the lines and dig the passion.
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Jan 28, 2008 - 08:24pm PT
|
And the fashion!
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Jan 28, 2008 - 10:01pm PT
|
Could someone please post the entry in the Sheridan Anderson Off Belay calender (alphebetized for your convenience) of Gaston Rabbitfat.
Too much.
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Jan 28, 2008 - 10:24pm PT
|
It is probably a good thing that NASA didn't pick the aid climbing shot that Jaybro posted. Wouldn't want to um, give the, uh, wrong impression with respect to intergalactic hangdogging! That earth cracks are easy! Au contrere! We is wild and crazy, thrill loving folks! LOL
But then again, those extraterrestrials might appreciate a nifty bit of slingwork.
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Jan 28, 2008 - 10:26pm PT
|
ok NOW i've heard it all;
"intergalactic hangdogging"!!!!!!!!
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2008 - 11:24am PT
|
Shhhhhhhhhhh! Don't say that so loud they can hear every word!
|
|
Larry
Trad climber
Bisbee
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2008 - 08:26pm PT
|
For Ron.
The bottle under his arm says "Breck."
|
|
Trusty Rusty
Social climber
Tahoe area
|
|
|
Jan 30, 2008 - 12:10am PT
|
Nice post O.D.
In 78 (at 15) Jim Wilson turned me on to Rebuffat's On Ice& Snow & Rock. I became "socially twisted" before finishing the book. A gold line, 12 roped stoppers, and a pair of Vasque vibram sole's coupled with Joe Brown's "Hard Years" put me in the new world. "Games Climber's Play" lead to levels 12 step programs are designated for. At age 42 I realized I had kids and had been divorced for several years, clearly pointing to the need for Rebuffat, Perrin, Brown,& Patey.
Thanks for sharing life's importances.
TR
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Jan 31, 2008 - 01:07am PT
|
"even the most boorish and arrogant chamonix innkeepers." Too funny Larry.
|
|
Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
|
|
Had "Starlight and Storm" on the Super Topo Book Club a couple months ago along with Lionel Terray's "Conquistadors of the Useless". Both incredible books by leaders / philosophers in the climbing ascent community.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
|
|
Very cool!
Johhny D, can you give us a blow by blow of that last video Ed posted? Your own synopsis will probably be better that a full translation...as i hope you know, I trust your wit!
|
|
local
Social climber
eldorado springs
|
|
When we were kids growing up in Denver, we were fortunate to see Gaston give his presentation at South High School, Hans Gmoser's 'Skis over McKinley" at City Park, and Patrick Vallencant's 'El Gringo Eskiador' at Chem 140 in Boulder. Each time, the audience, as knowledgeable as any in the US, was speechless at the end of the show. Very inspiring stuff.
|
|
tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
|
|
i have on snow and rock on my lap. the bonatti footage on the other thread had some dang similar aid climbing shots to old gaston.
i found my dad's copy in the attic when i was a kid. a great inspiration, we used to make up gibberish french mountain songs when we climbed at castle rock. this would have been early 90's if any of saw a couple of weird kids out top roping and leading on slings tied out an old orange 7mm.
|
|
hooblie
climber
from where the anecdotes roam
|
|
|
Sep 16, 2010 - 02:44pm PT
|
...exactly like Gaston, with that super erect posture and the poised but concerned look on his face.
HOH MAHN!. must reserve this page for image (to be scanned) of shirtless largo
emerging fully cut from monzonite in his wide cord knickers, prominent brisket
parting the desert wind, locks unfurled from the mast of a patented skowl.
there's something very alpha about two clumps of fist held wide behind implied holsters.
i took it to be bluster, a grand operatic gesture. relieved to know it was intentionally gastonic
|
|
Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Sep 16, 2010 - 03:22pm PT
|
Rebuffat was a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, which I hadn't known.
Apparently no asteroid is yet named for him, but that wouldn't be hard to fix.
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Sep 16, 2010 - 08:40pm PT
|
One will be identified that exactly matches the shape of his hair!
|
|
jogill
climber
Colorado
|
|
|
Sep 17, 2010 - 12:50am PT
|
RIP, Gaston . . . you sure impressed me.
|
|
jstan
climber
|
|
|
Dec 31, 2010 - 04:22pm PT
|
Coming out of WWII there were bomb shattered buildings most places and people everywhere unsure they would be able to find their next meal. They were ready for elegance and wondrous ideals.
Even here we were ready for this. Only a few had the talent needed to contribute directly to the work. But, a few did.
|
|
go-B
climber
Revelation 7:12
|
|
|
Dec 31, 2010 - 11:15pm PT
|
Bad Dude!
|
|
Brian
climber
California
|
|
|
Dec 31, 2010 - 11:36pm PT
|
I never bought into the whole "Ghastly Rubberfat" mockery of Patey and his crew. And while I can laugh at a good off-color limerick with the best of 'em, when it comes down to it Rebuffat's prose will endure much longer than that of his detractors. Starlight and Storm remains one of the very best bits of writing by a climber, and is consistently the one I recommend to non-climber friends.
Here's a gem...
To succeed in scaling the great north faces, the pioneers had to climb for two or three days and spend at least one night clinging to the face. Nowadays, despite our knowledge of the routes, you still very often have to bivouac on some of them. But this is no drawback. At the end of the day the mountaineer looks for a ledge, lays down his sack, hammers in a piton and attaches himself to it. After the hard, acrobatic effort of the climb he is lost—like the poet—in contemplation, but to a greater degree than the poet he can be a part of the hills around. The man who bivouacs becomes one with the mountain. On his bed of stone, leaning against the great wall, facing the empty space which has become his friend, he watches the sun fade over the horizon on his left, while on his right the sky spreads its mantle of stars. At first he is wakeful, then, if he can, he sleeps, then wakes again, watches the stars and sleeps again, then at last he stays awake and watches. On his right the sun will return, having made its great voyage below this shield of scattered diamonds. The man who climbs only in good weather, starting from huts and never bivouacking, appreciates the splendor of the mountains but not their mystery, the dark of their night, the depth of the sky above. I know enthusiastic lads who flee the city at week-ends to the Forest of Fontainebleu or the Calanques. On Sunday they climb, but beforehand, on the Saturday evening, they bivouac. Theirs is the taste for nature and the universe. On the other hand, some mountaineers are proud of having done all their climbs without bivouac. How much they have missed! And the same applies to those who only enjoy rock-climbing, or only the ice climbs, only the ridges or the faces. We should refuse none of the thousand and one joys that the mountains offers us at every turn. We should brush nothing aside, set no restrictions. We should experience hunger and thirst, be able to go fast, but also know how to go slowly and to contemplate. Variety is the spice of life. —Gaston Rebuffat, Starlight and Storm
|
|
Dos XX
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
A bump for the 35th anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Gaston's still going!
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Mar 24, 2013 - 02:10pm PT
|
Going, going...Gaston!
|
|
BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
|
|
|
Mar 24, 2013 - 02:19pm PT
|
Largo,
What is that old climbing book that you guys used to quote. Buhl?
I think you wrote about it in one of your stories. Pretty funny, but also good.
Just think about looking up at some of those faces that had never been climbed. Those guys had balls as big as minor planets.
One of the cool things about climbing is that on some routes, you are pulling on the same holds or the same jams as your heroes and everyone else. We are all connected that way, even beginners.
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
|
Mar 24, 2013 - 02:41pm PT
|
"Mental balance is the keystone of all mountaineering."
Words to live by or to ignore.
In my vision of rock climbing, snow exists as a background only.
I'm of this faith, if I must claim a religion, which I don't, necessarily, just a deity and his kid.
The Prattish Convention
I love the speckled granite of the alps them Frenchy photos show.
I can do without and do do without the goll-dang snow.
|
|
| Messages 1 - 48 of total 48 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!