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Senor Pinche Wey
Big Wall climber
OB
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 16, 2005 - 01:36pm PT
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Does anyone know anything about Hugh Burton? All I know is that he is Canadian and put up some futuristic routes. Has he put up stuff outside of the Valley than the Giraffe in Baja?
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Mar 16, 2005 - 04:07pm PT
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A bunch of stuff in the Bugs and at Squamash. Burton was the Real Deal.
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Bishop is DEAD, long live JT
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Mar 16, 2005 - 05:26pm PT
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alive and well in a secret spot. Can probably still out drink and fight anyone from the US. It would probably take a Canadian or a Bulgarian to dust him up.
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deuce4
Social climber
Pagosa Springs CO
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Mar 17, 2005 - 02:09pm PT
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true badass
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Mar 17, 2005 - 02:27pm PT
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I did the first ascent of the Giraffe with Hugh, sight unseen. Round about pitch 10, I'm out about 8 copperheads, right off the belay, when Hugh yells up for me to go easy on the heads--he's saving them for the Valley. True story.
JL
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bigwalling
climber
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Mar 17, 2005 - 02:31pm PT
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Largo that is some funny ass sh#t... 8 heads= 1 dollars max if you are swaging your own... HAHAHAHA must have been low on money!!!
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Senor Pinche Wey
Big Wall climber
OB
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 17, 2005 - 08:37pm PT
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Hugh put up the first few mind-blowing walls I climbed. When I got down I had to find out who put them up. When I struggled to clip one of his bolts (I think he must be a pretty tall man) I wondered “Who is this &%$@ guy?” I asked around campfires for a couple of years for a Hugh Burton story and never got one. Maybe I had to ask at a different fire ring. I started this thread to get one. Thanks!
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 17, 2005 - 08:42pm PT
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Hugh is the real deal man, he’s also a super great guy.
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 17, 2005 - 11:51pm PT
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Charlie Porter and Hugh Burton had fixed a few pitches and had their haul bags up on the FA of the Horse Chute. They were ready to blast. Charlie and Hugh asked me to drive them down to El Cap meadow in Charlie’s famous VW bus. The one he rolled coming down 41 once and once Bev drove it into the Merced river on the way home when they lived in BriceBurg. Charlie and Bev had their shop there, Porter Engineering.
A big pacific storm was rolling in I asked them are you guys serious going up now? Porter looks at me and says “ A little rain aint gonna hurtcha kid.” I laughed because I figured they were just going to jumar up to their bags and secure them from the rain.
We get to the meadow and Hugh and Charlie put on their cut-off blue gene shorts. Now it’s October man, and it’s not exactly warm out. I’m blowing my mind at these guys. Hugh is just calm and mellow the whole time, along with Charlie. They walk off just as it starts raining laughing.
Rained all night next day I go down to see where they are and they’re way the fu-ck up there climbing away in the storm.
Hard Hard Hard men from a time in the past .......
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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Mar 31, 2005 - 08:51pm PT
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Yeah, definitely one of the original hardmen.
Hugh did the 2nd ascent of Zodiac with Jack Roberts. I had a chance to talk to him about Zodiac before our clean-up. I asked him about the original belay 14 below the roof and the new belay above, and whether or not we should retain the original belay position. The following is a short bit that I wrote a while ago, summing up one of his stories:
He lowered himself out from belay 14 and began to clean pitch 15. As he looked up, he began to see little bits of purple fuzz falling towards him. Quickly realizing that the rope was being cut by the sharp edge above, he down-jugged a few moves and was able to clip Charlie’s one belay bolt. Hugh yelled to his partner to drop a second rope. Once the rope was lowered, he was able to swing his aiders (with a few pins on the end) and snag it. He then jugged up the second rope, only to find that the purple lead line was cut halfway through. Yikes!!!
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TripL7
Trad climber
san diego
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Jul 26, 2010 - 09:36pm PT
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Bad-azz Canuck bump...
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Fuzzywuzzy
climber
suspendedhappynation
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Jul 27, 2010 - 12:54am PT
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Burton telling me how it is:
"I'm gunna stand up in my aiders and you are going to hear some noise...then I'm gunna stand up again - more noise... that's all there is to it".
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 27, 2010 - 02:06am PT
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Hugh now lives with his wife in western Nevada.
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mastadon
Trad climber
quaking has-been
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Jul 27, 2010 - 07:49am PT
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Burton=Hardcore (note capital H)
He hurt us (Seattleite Yanks) a few times when we were young. We hadn't yet figured out that Canadian beer was stronger then American beer.......
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Jul 27, 2010 - 08:05am PT
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ACCORDING TO THE FISH:
Mescalito
Notes on the route:
Perhaps the grandest of the "Big Trade Routes" Mescalito features great location, good rock, and plenty of pitches for all. When we did the route we had a 3 man team and spent 3 nights on the wall. I think we fixed the first 4 pitches and then did one long haul from the Alcove. I remember hearing about the Seagull pitch as being expando and "once you go past the Seagull, you can't get back down". BS on both of those. The Seagull is nothing to worry about. The rivet ladders have pretty good rivets but are spaced really far apart.
Hugh Burton is a huge man and used this to his advantage while placing these on the FA.
If you are vertically challenged, take an equilizer (not cheater) stick to get you over the wide ones. The Bismark bivy is one of the finest anywhere. It is flat, long, level, and pretty wide. We rolled onto the Bismark with enough time to fix the easy A1 corner to the top of the Biz. The top 12 feet is awkward and off-width so beware. Having this pitch fixed will give you some extra time to sleep-in and still top out the next day. Topping out on the summit is clean and fairly straight forward.
Those Canadian boys (Burton/Sutton) sure did nice work on this one.
Thanks, Russ, for letting me steal your copyright (Robin Hood-style, as it were), with only a passing reference after the fact:
http://fishproducts.com/index1.html
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Jul 27, 2010 - 08:15am PT
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yes he is a legend in the old school..
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Jul 27, 2010 - 08:29am PT
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And, if it weren't for the Old School, there would be no New School .... . . . .
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oldtopangalizard
Social climber
ca
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Jul 27, 2010 - 08:48pm PT
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I was working with a real slick stair and rail guy in the Bay a few years ago when I mentioned I was going climbing for the weekend. He starts telling me about this guy he worked with years ago on interior stuff in the City who was apparently quite a climber. He goes on to say he was a pretty tough dude, after work knocking down a few, arm wrestling in the bar (never losing), and pretty much a real Canuck character. He forgot his last name until he told me everyone on the job called him Hey You. I told him it had to be Hugh Burton and he was more than a badass on the rock. Burton it is he said and also let me know he was solid builder.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 27, 2010 - 08:51pm PT
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Largo- Too damn funny! Go easy on those mashies! LOL
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11worth
Trad climber
Leavenworth & Greenwater WA
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Jul 27, 2010 - 09:17pm PT
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I met Hugh Burton and Steve Sutton just once in the early 70's at Castle Rock near Leavenworth Wa. After a brief conversation they made a lasting imression. I still dig out Mountain #44 July - August 1975 and read Hugh's excellent article "El Capitan up-date".
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 28, 2010 - 12:38am PT
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Peeler Bar?!? Now there's a keeper! LOL
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jul 28, 2010 - 12:49am PT
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STEVE G, GHOST-maybe you can help?
Sorry Greg, but no can do. I don't have anything further back than mid-80s.
Anders? Calling Anders!
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Jul 28, 2010 - 07:32am PT
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Sweet ride here.
Great post Tami!
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marv
Mountain climber
Bay Area
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Jul 28, 2010 - 11:37am PT
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what year did Burton climb Cassin Ridge/Denali? any stories come out of that?
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 28, 2010 - 01:22pm PT
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Unfortunately, I barely knew Hugh - they were a respected and seemingly much older generation, and by the time I was active in Squamish, Hugh, Steve et al weren't. They'd mostly moved on to bigger things in Yosemite etc, and only occasionally dropped by, at least from what we saw - although they had and perhaps still have family in the Vancouver area, and may have worked here at times. The people who'd have most to say would be those who knew them in Yosemite (Peter, Roger, Werner etc), and of course Gordie, Neil, Tim and so on. And maybe Dave and Dave.
Hugh (and wife) have posted once to SuperTopo, but I'll say no more about that. It may be that they prefer their privacy. Maybe, though, I can find and post Hugh's report on the Cassin Ridge adventure (about 1973), and other things. It may need to wait, as I'm pretty busy.
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bmacd
climber
Relic Hominid
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Met Hugh one night below the Chief when I was 17. He was a huge guy, with forearms the size of my calfs. He sent me into Squamish with his money to buy beer. Two axe blows to a hydro pole and he had kindling for a fire. He poured some gasoline on the fire which also ignited his forearm, didn't seem to faze him at all.
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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there should be a old school photo section on ST..
1989 and previous photos!
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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His daughter has been a friend of my sister and I since we were in junior high. I only got to hang out with him once. I'll never forget it.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Smaill's article "Squamish Hardcore on Cassin Ridge" is easily the best piece of Mountain Literachur in the world.
"what's left for food?
sleeping pills or jack-in-the-pot."
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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be nice to be in the "true badass" category according to deuce4!
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
WA, & NC & Idaho
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I'm guessing that's Hugh on the left????
Don't make' em like that any more huh?
SWEET thread!
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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pretty good story Tami. Pretty f*#king good (like my grin couldn't be wider).
As far as Sutton, Burton and Porter on El Cap goes:
I wonder if they did all those routes straight and not on psychedelics?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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I wonder if they did all those routes straight and not on psychedelics?
Straight?
No, I don't think so.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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peeler bar salut
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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It may be theoretically possible to pour a beer on the floor in Hugh's presence, but I wouldn't want to try it. Maybe with Utah beer?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 27, 2014 - 08:26am PT
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Bump for an honorary Chieftain!
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mastadon
Trad climber
crack addict
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Jul 27, 2014 - 08:57am PT
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Hugh Burton-badass.
At the Peter Minks memorial a couple years ago. Chuck Cochran on the left, Hugh on the right.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jul 27, 2014 - 09:06am PT
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Haven't seen those guys for decades....looking good and....well fed!
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brownie
Trad climber
squamish
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Jul 27, 2014 - 11:16am PT
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now that we have all been made aware of the greatness of Smaill's article of The Squamish hardcore on Cassin Ridge, does anyone know the whereabouts of the text?? or would anyone be so kind as to post up a link if one exists? or as a last resort, scan said article for the greater good? would be psyched!
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captain chaos
climber
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Jul 28, 2014 - 02:55am PT
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Timing the drip was tricky, we all got wet on this one...
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KabalaArch
Trad climber
Starlite, California
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Jul 28, 2014 - 07:10am PT
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He poured some gasoline on the fire which also ignited his forearm, didn't seem to faze him at all.
"Boy Scout juice"
Two axe blows to a hydro pole and he had kindling for a fire.
Clearly a very resourceful Scout at that!
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Jul 28, 2014 - 07:05pm PT
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"Squamish Hard Core"
man, I laughed.
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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I can ask Gordie Smail if he has a copy when I am at Skaha in May.
I can probably dig up his phone#. Email me directly
I remember a story about Hugh and Steve hitchhiking to Yosemite during a spring school break when they were 16. Did the Nose then hitchhiked home.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Outside the Asylum
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So who wants to guess who these two fine-looking characters are?
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WBraun
climber
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So who wants to guess who these two fine-looking characters are?
Two gross materialists sitting on the couch.
I win send me the prize NOW !!!!
:-)
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Charlie Porter, Hugh Burton, Steve Sutton
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Awesome z . . . them's lookin' at somethin'
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grover
climber
Castlegar BC
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Hugh's bro John on the left, and the other guy looks familiarish.....
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ron gomez
Trad climber
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Could that be an older Steve Sutton? Haven't see Steve in probably 20+ years.
Peace
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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Rick Sylvester on the right?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Could be the original team.... Get it done....
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Porter, Burton, and Sutton. What a badass crew!
BAd
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Outside the Asylum
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No winners. The two in my photo are John Burton and Paul Piro (pronounced "Pee Row"), at Paul's house in the Kootenays. One of their feats was retreating from about 2/3 up the North American Wall of El Capitan in terrible weather (rain, snow, wind...) in spring 1971. At the time the route probably hadn't been climbed ten times. A steep, complicated business.
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