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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 9, 2010 - 01:28pm PT
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The classic Gill treatise that thoughtfully set the table for the power pinching, pad stacking and pebble plundering present. From the 1969 American Alpine Journal.
Pull down, Players!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 11, 2010 - 12:14pm PT
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Soggy kindling bump!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 16, 2010 - 01:04pm PT
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Overcome with Boy Scout-0-line!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 29, 2010 - 01:25pm PT
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And a hopeful match...
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peterbeal
Boulder climber
Colorado
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May 30, 2010 - 10:41am PT
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This is great Steve.Thanks for posting the article!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2010 - 05:19pm PT
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I can't recall being able to read John's thoughtful writing anywhere else prior to this essay.
I took great pleasure in seeing Pat's classic footage of Gill moving over sandstone in The Disciples of Gill, recently. Makes me hunger for more, if any other footage was recorded along the way.
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go-B
climber
In God We Trust
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May 30, 2010 - 05:29pm PT
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See Plate #81, Who need sticky boots? I need sticky boots!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2010 - 06:09pm PT
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Bibliography on John's website, perhaps? I haven't spent enough time there to know. The Games Climbers Play would be my next guess.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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May 30, 2010 - 09:57pm PT
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hey there say, steve.... wow, thanks for the article...
god bless...
:)
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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May 30, 2010 - 10:05pm PT
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John, I've always wondered why you're dragging a rope up in that Alabama photo. Setting up a top-rope for another problem? How high off the deck are you there?
Wish I could remember. Seems like there was a tree or bush above that I wanted to run the rope behind, for protection, as I climbed to the top. The cliff may have been 30 or 40 feet at that point, but I can't recall.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2010 - 11:53pm PT
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John- If you could do a problem in a single try, did it lose your interest? You imply that a set of moves doesn't become a problem to be solved if it yields right away.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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May 31, 2010 - 12:48am PT
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I never had as a goal doing a problem as quickly as possible. This was in contrast with many others I climbed with, particularly Bob Williams, who was instrumental in getting Jim Holloway into dynamics. We saw our craft through different lenses, but respected one another and had entertaining bouldering sessions. Whether a problem was difficult or easy to solve didn't make much difference to me; if it was easy and was appealing, I would work on polishing my performance, like a gymnast doing his best with a simple routine, enjoying the kinaesthetics as much as the challenge. A lot had to do with that flow a gymnast gets, where moves are done with a deceptive sensation of effortlessness. There were few around who saw bouldering that way, even in those days. Most - like now - wanted to do the hardest thing they could and weren't concerned with style and form. There are several ways to play the game, but the pursuit of difficulty almost always prevails. To show how far I wandered from the mainstream, I avoided using a heel-hook, thinking that it turned what I considered artistic into a kind of jungle gymnastics . . .
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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May 31, 2010 - 05:57pm PT
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After seeing guys use a heel hook on the Yabo roof at Parking-Lot boulder at Castle Rock State Park and claiming they did the route, I also wonder about that technique. Pure style or just getting up something, it seems like a compromise at best. I'm sure it has it's place.
My hat goes off to Mr. Gill, a true inspiration for several generations of climbers.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 31, 2010 - 06:00pm PT
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He's also rather nattily dressed in that "John Gill Bouldering in Alabama" photo. Definite style points - he almost looks like Errol Flynn.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 13, 2010 - 06:23pm PT
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Another early Gill article from the July/August 1969 Summit.
John- How many of your problems met the muster of B-3?
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Thorgon
Big Wall climber
Sedro Woolley, WA
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Jun 14, 2010 - 04:14pm PT
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Excellent Post Steve!
Thanks,
Thor
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Jun 14, 2010 - 04:15pm PT
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John, did you consider your route on the Thimble bouldering?
No. For several years I had been experimenting with what could now be called free-solo exploration. I considered the Thimble to be a climb, and when I first saw it, as I soloed up an easier route to its left, I thought this might be a good test to see how far I was willing to go along these lines. Afterwards, I thought "that was far enough", and went back to easier solos. Another difference: the Thimble had no dynamics, and most of my bouldering problems had some kind of dynamic component. Also, it wasn't as difficult as many of my problems.
How many of your problems met the muster of B-3?
A few. In retrospect, what is now considered V9 or V10 would have qualified, for that was about as hard as I climbed.
These articles are painful to read! They seem incredibly dated, and my writing skills were minimal. But they represent my thinking on bouldering at that time . . . not necessarily what the few other bouldering enthusiasts thought! Hey, it's a sport open to individual interpretation, and hopefully won't be bound by inflexible ethical rules.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 5, 2010 - 05:01pm PT
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Some Jeff Achey words and images to keep the OP company from Summit February/ March 1980.
Caption reads "A bouldering route on the Thimble, Black Hills, South Dakota. Climber Jeff Achey. Photo Jane Presser."
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